Beast Wars: Revolution
by sisterawesomeness
Summary: Eri's story is far from over as she continues her journey with the Maximals. But things aren't always simple, especially when it comes to the Predacons and some new faces. Will she be able to stay strong and face what the world has in store for her? How will her decisions affect everyone's fate?
1. Chain of Command

_"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars." –Ralph Waldo Emerson_

* * *

Eri had been living with the Maximals for a full month. A couple of weeks had passed since the pyramid incident and there had been no sign of the Preds. But that didn't mean they weren't out there. Everyone knew it, especially her. But the bots had described a rock formation they had dubbed the 'standing stones' and it had peeked Eri's interest. What if they had been made by the same beings that had brought her there? So when they said they were all going to check the place out she convinced them to let her go too. It hadn't been easy but after much pleading and a 'puppy dog' face they, mainly Optimus, relented.

She road Rhinox there and couldn't believe it when she saw it. They reminded her of Stonehedge. But that was back on earth, did this planet simply have one that matched it? If so, what where they for? This just made her wonder all the more.

"This isn't a natural stone formation," Rhinox said as Optimus scanned the area. "Somebody somehow built this thing."

"Yeah, well uh," Rattrap began. "Excuse my error message but I thought this planet was uninhabited."

"Maybe those voices built this place too," Eri suggested.

"If that's true then shouldn't we leave?" the rat asked.

"Something else is odd," Primal spoke up. "I'm getting an energon reading. It's under this pile of rocks."

"Just like bait in a mousetrap," Rattrap added and shuddered. "This place alternates my currents."

Eri noticed Dinobot move toward the pile of rocks. She jumped off of Rhinox to go join him. "Ya know," the rhino said. "The energon on this planet doesn't fit with its geology. Hard to believe it could've formed naturally."

The raptor moved a large rock off the pile and Eri would've grabbed one to help but she couldn't reach them. "However it got here we must remove it," Dinobot urgently stated. "Before the Predacons do."

"Ah Dinobot," and they turned to see Megatron came out from behind a nearby rock. "That Predacon chip still ticks inside your traitorous hide." Dinobot moved in front of Eri to block her from the Preds. "And I think we will take it, yessss. No energon crystal too small I always say."

"Waspinator, Terrorize," the wasp appeared followed closely by the other flyer. "Terrorsaur, Terrorize." And the Preds opened fire on them. All of them dodged and were forced to split up once the spider joined in. Optimus, Rhinox, and Cheetor ran one way while Eri, Rattrap, and Dinobot hid behind a nearby rock. Eri stood in the middle of the two.

"Man," the rat said. "Your old friends don't miss a beat, do they?"

"Dinobot, Maximize," and Rattrap transformed as well.

"Guard Eri and keep them away from the crystal," Optimus shouted at them.

"Oh yeah sure give us the dirty work," Rattrap replied as he stepped out and began opening fire on Scorponok. Eri saw Cheetor do a roll and take the scorpion out.

"Scratch one," the cat stated but was cut off by the evil laughter of the spider. But before he could attack he got shot right in the chestplate by Rattrap. Cheetor gave him a thumbs up.

"Flyers incoming," Rhinox said.

"They're mine," Primal flew into the sky after them. He fired and managed to hit Waspinator but missed Terrorsaur. Who then turned his own weapon on the stones forcing everyone, including Eri, to run for it. Eri went flying and heard Rhinox not to far from her as he yelled out and landed harshly on the ground. She landed miraculously on her butt and got back up to check on the others. She noticed a strange almost humming sound coming from the crystals as they glowed on and off.

"Terrorsaur you fool!" Megatron scolded. "You've released the crystal's energy. It is useless to us now. Back to base, beast mode." Just like that all of the Predacons took off as fast as they could.

The Maximals and Eri collected together and saw them leave. "Beast mode Maximals," Optimus ordered. "And prepare for energon waves." The ground began to shack as they transformed and Eri hoped onto Rhinox. They bolted for all they were worth and ducked behind some nearby boulders. They all crouched down and covered their heads as a light similar to that at the pyramid emanated from the energon and shot off into space. Once it did that the stones returned to being normal instead of glowing an eerie white and the crystals disintegrated.

The group chanced peering over the rocks. "Like I said," Rhinox was the first to speak. "Those stones aren't natural."

"What in the galaxy was that?" Cheetor asked.

"Looks kinda like a signal but to whom?" Rhinox countered.

"Well perhaps we'll learn the answer," Optimus offered. "Someday."

* * *

Sometime later.

A golden pod came flying out of a wormhole and headed for the planet. The first to see it was Optimus as he sat outside the base going over some files.

At the Predacon base Megatron noticed it too. "Flyer incoming stasis pod," he informed Waspinator. "Plot vector to crash point."

At the Maximal base Rhinox was doing just that. Eri watched with Optimus as they read the computer readouts on the screen. "Wrong profile for a stasis pod," the rhino informed them. "But it isn't a meteor either."

"Prime," Primal said. "Where's it headed?"

"Right for the standing stones," Rhinox answered.

Only a minute later it was decided Optimus and Dinobot would go and see what this was while everyone else held down the fort. Eri told them to be careful and Optimus smiled and said they would be. But Eri still had a bad feeling about this entire thing.

* * *

At the standing stones.

Optimus and Dinobot came upon a golden floating pod in the middle of the stone structure. "Yes, it looks like somebody answered that signal," Primal stated. "But who?" Not a moment later he was shot by a missile right in the chest and was thrown back.

Waspinator landed while Megatron walked up to the pod. "Whatever this fascinating device is we Predacons claim it as our own. Yessss," Megatron stated. Dinobot let out a snarl at that as Megatron transformed. Dinobot did the same while Optimus regained his senses.

But before anyone could make a move the pod started to glow and let out a humming sound, like it was powering up for something. It glowed a bright white as Optimus managed to get to his feet. Just in time for the pod to send out electric impulses that coursed harshly through all of their systems. It then shot out a beam of light which hit Optimus. He barely had time to yell out as he vanished with the light. Leaving Dinobot barely conscious as the pod continued to glow. "Optimus," he managed to get out before he powered down.

* * *

Later.

Eri knew her gut was trying to tell her something. They found Dinobot unconscious outside the base, alone. They quickly put him in the CR chamber hoping to find out what happened to him and their leader. Finally, repairs were done and the chamber door opened. They all stood outside of it waiting for him to wake up.

Dinobot onlined his optics and groggily saw three Maximals and a human staring at him. In his foggy mind he viewed them as a threat. "Maximal torture chamber!" he yelled out before basically hoping onto Rattrap who went to the floor under the weight. He then bolted to the other side of the room and growled at them.

"You ok Rattrap?" Eri helped the rat up as Cheetor tried to calm the raptor down. "Wow, hea powerdown. You're on our side remember?"

"Affirmative," Dinobot corrected himself and Eri immediately went to his side to make sure he was alright.

"And Maximals don't have torture chambers," Rattrap explained. "Although, ya know I could get behind that idea."

Eri held onto one of Dinobot's arms as he swayed back and forth a bit. "How… How did I get here?"

"We found ya dumped in front of the command base hatch," Rhinox told him. "Scraped down and _alone._"

"Aww, just like an innocent orphan in a B movie," the rat had to put in. Eri gave him a look but concentrated on keeping the raptor steady on his feet.

"Optimus," Dinobot finally said.

"Yeah we were hopin' that maybe the innocent orphan baby could tell us what happened to Optimus," Rattrap approached him.

"You're not helping," Eri lightly scolded.

The rat shrugged. "What I do?"

"Optimus Primal," Dinobot got out of her grip and turned away from them. "Was terminated." Eri heard Cheetor let out a gasp and none of the others could believe it. "An alien probe has landed at the standing stones," Dinobot went on. "It emitted an energy burst during Optimus's transformation. He vanished."

"Wait a minute," Rhinox said. "Why was he transforming?"

"Predacon attack," Dinobot explained turning back to face them. "We have no time for further analysis now. We must make another attempt to secure the probe from the Predacons. Rattrap, come with me."

"Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow," the rat wasn't having it. "Wait, standby here. Who died and made you prime, scaleface?"

"Optimus is certainly scrap," Dinobot countered. "And I, as the most powerful of the group, shall replace him. Anyone who disagrees may challenge me now. Dinobot, Maximize." He transformed and pulled out his weapons but Rattrap wasn't intimidated.

"You're messin' with the wrong mouse, Chopperface," the rat told him as he put a gun under Dinobot's chin. _I can't believe this! _

Luckily Rhinox stepped in. "Wait, we're not Predacons here," he forced the two apart. "We'll settle the chain of command in traditional Maximal fashion. By secret ballot." Eri preferred that to all-out war. But that also meant she had to choose who she wanted to lead. _Oh crap._

* * *

At the Pred base.

Megatron and Waspinator grumbled as they were lifted up out of their CR baths. "Megatron back! Megatron back!" Scorponok said excitedly. "Scorponok alone with Tarantulas and Terrorsaur, very bad."

"You and Waspinator were returned to us badly damaged," the spider told him.

"Yes I remember now," Megatron said. "Optimus. Optimus Primal, terminated." The others actually hung their heads for a moment, as if in reverence. "Quickly, Scorponok you and Waspinator get back to the standing stones and guard that alien probe." They both went off to do as he commanded.

"As for us," Megatron told the other two as they excited the base. "This is a perfect opportunity. Yesss. I know just how the weakling Maximals will respond to their leader's death. Confusion, bickering, recriminations. The perfect opportunity for a surprise attack."

* * *

Back at the Maximal base.

It was early morning by now as Rhinox read off the votes. "One vote for Rattrap," and the rat smirked. "One vote for Dinobot," though the raptor didn't seem very enthused. "One more vote for Rattrap. And one more vote for Dinobot."

"Hea, what?" the rat seemed outraged. "Which one of you traitors voted for the Predacon? Oh," he looked to Eri. "Except for you little lady," he patted her head. "You're the only one I could forgive."

"It's a secret ballet," Rhinox reminded him. "No one has to say who they voted for. Now," he let out an enormous sigh. "And one vote for me. So, it's a tie." _Shit, I deadlocked it. But I really thought Rhinox would be better than those two. No offense to them though._

Dinobot let out a harsh laugh. "Great system your democracy. No mechanism to break a tie."

"Some powerplay, leatherlips," Rattrap told him. "I'm startin' to wonder if that alien probe had anything to do with Optimus's disappearin'."

"Rattrap," Eri wasn't having it and apparently neither was Dinobot as he flipped over the table and growled in rage. "I've heard enough from this scrawny thief! I will break the tie and be your leader. By force if necessary," and he shot Rattrap across the room with his lasar eyes. Eri let out a small surprised cry but rushed over to the rat as the other two took defensive positions against Dinobot. "What the heck, Dinobot?!"

But right before it could get ugly there was static over the radio and a familiar voice. "Maximals," Optimus said. "Come in. Are you receiving? Maximal command base, this is Optimus."

All of them crowed around the receiver. "Optimus," Rhinox spoke into it. "Optimus this is Rhinox, where are you?"

"Hard to say," the ape replied. "As near as I can figure I have no body. My consciousness is intact but my physical molecular structure is being stored and scanned inside the alien probe."

Rattrap pushed his way to the receiver. "We'll come and get ya. Just keep static."

"Just beware of a Predacon attack," Primal warned. "They'll be after you now that I'm gone. Rattrap, you're in charge. I'm sure you worked out the chain of command peacefully." Rhinox patted him on the back while Dinobot had a stare off with him. Though it was interrupted as shots were fired, the base shook, and the alarms went off.

"You're right about one thing anyway," the cat said. "We're under Predacon attack!"

"Well commander?" Dinobot asked him as the base continued to be hammered. "What are your orders?"

It seemed like the rat had to think a second about it. "Uh uh. We're we we're scrapped if we sit inside. Prepare for assorti!"

"A frontal attack?" Dinobot questioned. "Pure madness."

"No," Rhinox spoke up. "Rattrap's right, we'll be buried in here. Let's go." Cheetor and Dinobot went to face the enemy but Rattrap stopped Rhinox and Eri.

"No Rhinox, Eri you two get to work," he ordered them. "We need to extract Optimus from that probe." _He just doesn't want me in the battlefield._

She looked to Rhinox as he sighed and said, "Oh no."

"Don't worry," she patted his arm. "I'll help."

"Good cause I'm gonna need all the help I can get," he went to go grab some tools.

* * *

Outside the base the battle raged on. The Maximal's charged out of the base right at the Predacons firing away the entire time. "Aw, they've come to meet their death, face to face," Megatron charged them. Dinobot led the charge and snarled when he saw Megatron. So he did an epic flying sidekick right to the tyrants face and he went down. Meanwhile, the rat and cat kept going and finally took some cover behind a rock.

Inside Rhinox and Eri sat around a tiny work table as Rhinox attempted to piece together a machine. "Make a device to extract physical molecular structure from an alien probe," he told her. "Man, I've gotta be a miracle worker." Just then another shot hit the ship and caused the table to fall over. Eri managed to catch the machine before it hit the floor but Rhinox lost some of his tools. "Oh no," he facepalmed.

Back with the others, Dinobot and Megatron were facing off. Dinobot really began to kick his butt as the other two focused their attacks more on the Maximal shield. Rattrap happened to look over at a control panel on the elevator and saw the readings going red. "Oh no," he said and really fired at the spider and flyer. The spider ducked behind a rock while Terrorsaur took off for the ship.

"Dinobot, the shield circuitry's hit, get it back online," the rat ordered.

"I am currently engaged," the raptor fought with Megatron's T-rex hand.

"That's an order!" Rattrap stated. "One more hit and our shields are gone for good." Unfortunately it appeared to go on deaf ears as the raptor and T-rex kept at it. "Come on, please," the rat begged. He saw he was going to have to do it himself so he ran for the ship. "Not this time," he said as he did a flip, shot at the flyer, and managed to flip up to his pedes again to fix the shield before the blasts could destroy it. Terrorsaur went falling out of the sky as the shot hit him.

Dinobot had had enough of Megatron and blasted him with his eye lasers. Sending him back about twenty feet to where the spider was hiding. "I suggest we withdraw Megatron," Tarantulas offered. "The true prize and reinforcements await us at the standing stones."

"Yes. The alien probe, withdraw at once." The Maximals kept firing at the Predacon's retreating forms until they were out of range. Then energon started messing with them.

"We've been in robot mode too long," Rattrap told them. "Beast mode."

They transformed and the cat had to comment. "Like we needed ya to point that out."

The rat let out a sigh of relief. "Well, at least they're gone."

"You were selfless in putting that shield back online," the raptor said. "I ought to have followed your command. I am dishonored."

"Eh, next time," Rattrap told him.

* * *

A short time later.

All of them were back at the standing stones with the machine Rhinox and Eri had pulled together to get Optimus out. All of them transformed and Rhinox held the machine. When Eri looked at the probe she wasn't sure why but it gave her an uneasy feeling. Maybe it was made by whoever those voices were.

"I don't know if this thing's going to work," the rhino admitted. "But it's as ready as it's ever going to be."

Rattrap sniffed the air and Eri could tell he was on edge. "Eh, too quiet around here. I thought for sure the Predacons would be makin' for the probe."

"Ha," they turned to see Megatron and the other Preds behind them. "Excellent prediction, commander Rattrap. Let's see how you fair in the battlefield." The Preds opened fire at once. The Maximals returned fire as they were forced to hide behind the probe.

"Rhinox," the rat called. "Get Optimus out of that probe."

"Optimus can you hear me?" Rhinox asked.

"Loud and clear, big guy," came his voice from the probe.

"I'm going to try and extract you."

Everyone fought on as Megatron motioned for Waspinator to go around back. "Aw!" Rhinox let out a frustrated sigh. "It's not working." Meanwhile, the wasp made his way right behind the rhino and human.

"Try a different frequency?" Eri offered.

"This whole area is full of stable energon radiation from the probe," he said. "It's like this whole place is a single device." They both happened to see Waspinator's form reflected from the probe as he made his way toward them. Two seconds later Rhinox opened fire on him and Eri was forced to cover her ears. She felt a bit sorry for the wasp as pieces of him broke off, including an arm. He started having energon problems and happened to lean up against one of the rocks.

The rock began to glow white and so did all of the others. "Hea," Rhinox figured it out. "This whole place is a single device." White beams came off of the rock and went directly to the probe. Which slowly opened and revealed some strange looking machinery. Then a beam of light came out of the top and a figure appeared. "Optimus!" Eri called excitedly.

"Look who's back," he said. "And feeling Prime." He shot at every Predacon and knocked them off their feet. The other Maximals joined him when he landed and Eri stood right behind them.

"Way to go Optimus," Cheetor stated. "Welcome back."

"The day and the probe is yours Optimus," Megatron admitted getting up. "Yessss. Just beware, not all aliens are beneficent after all." The Predacons retreated and Optimus turned to Rattrap.

"Rattrap, you commanded well in my absence," he praised him.

"Eh, commands a pain in the tail. Especially with this pack of hyenas. You can keep 'em," he lightly grabbed Eri's shoulders. "Except for our little angel here." She smiled at him and let out an embarrassed giggle before giving his shoulder at light punch.

"Well, I'm more concerned with this probe right now," the ape said. But not a second later a strange sound came from it and it literally disappeared into thin air.

"What the spotted heck was that all about?" the cat questioned.

"I don't know," Optimus answered. "I suppose they found out everything they needed to know about us."

"Yeah," Rhinox added. "They know we have destructive capabilities and reasoning power."

"Hm. But why would they want to know?" Dinobot spoke up. "And, more importantly, who are they? Friends, enemies, or something more?"

"Good question," the ape said. "I wonder when we'll find out the answer." _I wonder what will happen when we do._

* * *

_What do you think? I like to start my stories with a quote, I know I didn't do it for the first one but better late than never._

_Like I previously said I put her in between **Equal Measures** and **Chain of Command. **But don't get too comfortable people because I will mix a few things up in the show besides Eri just being there. Until next time and feedback is appreciated! _


	2. Lost in the Dark: Part I

Eri lounged in her room before seeing what the others were up to. The past few days had been a little stuffy seeing as it had been storming outside and she hadn't had the chance to even go out to stretch her legs. But today seemed more promising as she headed toward the command room. She found Optimus, Cheetor, and Rattrap were already there.

"Yeah, yeah," Rattrap told their leader. "Just let me finish this hand," he gestured to the holographic screen in front of him. "I'm in to this stinkin' 'puter for half a million."

"We need you to scout for energon with Cheetor," the ape countered shutting off the game.

"Aw," the rat groaned. "Optimus."

"I'll do it," Eri offered. "I mean, if Rattrap doesn't want to."

"Thank you, little lady," Rattrap told her resuming the game. "I'll catch up to your record yet."

"Rattrap," Optimus started but was cut off.

"I don't mind, Optimus," Eri stated. "I could use the fresh air."

"Yeah, and she'll be faster than a grumbling rat," the cat patted her shoulders. "Come on, Big-bot."

He seemed to be considering it for a moment before their combined 'sad faces' got to him. "Very well, but be careful and stay alert."

"Yes!" the cat said doing the equivalent of a fist pump. She merely smiled as they headed for the elevator before she got an idea. "Hold on, I'll be right back," she took all of two seconds to grab her backpack and yo-yo. This world had taught her better safe than sorry.

* * *

An hour later.

She held a device that detected energon while Cheetor had a pack type thing strapped to his back. "Found some," she said indicating two large energon crystals.

"Good job, Eri," he said as she used a large tong like object to put the crystals in the pack. "A few more and we'll be able to head back to the ship." He paused a moment before he went on. "Unless you don't want too…" Unfortunately, his train of thought was cut off when the device in her hands went off and they looked around for the source.

Eri took around ten steps forward before she came to the mouth of a cave. Inside were numerous energon crystals. Some even hung from the ceiling. "Wow," both of them said heading a little into the cave. "Guess the guys will be happy about this," Eri smiled. This amount of energon could go a long way for the Maximals.

"Not so fast fleshy," a screechy voice said behind them. _Oh shit._ They turned around in time to see Terrorsaur and Scorponok at the opening. "Terrorsaur, Terrorize," the flyer basically screamed. "Scorponok, Terrorize."

"Cheetor, Maximize," the cat transformed and put the pack aside as they ducked behind some rocks.

"We're sitting ducks here," Eri said. "If they hit the energon."

"Not if I have anything to do with it," the cat opened fire and forced the two back. "Besides, they wouldn't risk it at such a close range. The blast would get them too." That didn't exactly instill the best confidence in Eri. Thinking fast she picked up a small rock and hurled it at the Preds. It smacked off the scorpions helm and really ticked him off, but he didn't fire. _Maybe Cheetor's right._

"Is that all you got pussycat?" the flyer taunted.

"It's more than enough for a flyin' chicken like you," the cat countered.

"I'll show you and that meat-bag chicken!" _Then again this guy doesn't have the best track record when it comes to shit like this! _The scorpion attempted to stop the flyer but what could he do with his comrade ten feet in the air above him? Sure enough, Terrorsuar shot a missile at the Maximal.

"Cheetor, look out!" Eri acted fast and pushed him out of the way before jumping backwards herself. Two seconds later the shot hit the rock they had been behind and shook the entire cave. She looked up and saw all of the energon crystals swaying back and forth on the ceiling. One came crashing down and she barely got up and dodged it in time.

"Eri!" the cat stretched his servo out to her. She tried to grab it but they both had to pull back as the crystals continued to fall.

"Terrorsuar, you…" the scorpion started but was cut off as a crystal next to him exploded and sent him flying. The flyer attempted to dodge the falling pieces of energy but a piece of the ceiling got him instead and he plummeted under it to the hard cave floor. Dust kicked up everywhere as the crystals fell and/or exploded and the cave crumbled around the occupants.

* * *

Outside rocks collided and finally came to a stop as the cave semi settled. Bits of rock and dirt flew about and the energon disintegrated. A few of the rocks moved aside as a head pocked out and the scorpion attempted to dislodged the dust out of his systems. "That idiot," the Predacon said freeing himself and transforming as a few sparks flew out of his systems. He turned around and studied the cave in. "That fool, Maximal, and human must be scrap," he moved back a bit as the rocks shifted. "The other Maximals won't be too far off and I must tell Megatron," he said taking off for his base. He didn't even bother trying to search for the flyer.

If he had bothered to stick around another few seconds he would've seen the rocks move as another figure managed to climb their way out. "Oh," the cat groaned. "ERI!" he shouted the next second and tried to move some rocks. Only for those to fall over and cause the larger ones above it to nearly come down on him. "Eri," he called into the pile. "If you can hear me hold on. I'm gonna come get you." He then activated his comm link. "But I'm going to need some backup."

* * *

On the other side of the rocks.

Eri coughed as she peered around and got her bearings. It was so dark she could barely see except for a ray of light somewhere behind her. She stood up and dusted some of the dirt off of herself as she turned around. "Oh Kami," she whispered as she took in the sight of the large boulders and rocks blocking the cave entrance. The only opening was the small crack where the light came through at the very top.

She heard a noise like a grunt and noticed some rocks moving in front of her. "Cheetor?" she asked. Luck didn't seem to be on her side as a familiar, although dirtier and slightly dented, face came into view. "Not you." The flyer looked up at the sound of her voice and sneered at her. "Fleshy."

This was not good. The flyer moved a bit more but seemed to be stuck as he struggled to get out. She glanced past him to the one beam of light and knew she had to get out of there. Carefully, she stepped to the side of him and began climbing the pile. "This is your fault!" he yelled at her. "I'll rip you apart for this." She ignored him seeing as he desperately tried and failed to reach her. Eri noticed the rocks shifted a little as she kept going. She slipped and nearly went tumbling down before she grabbed one of the larger rocks for balance.

The next second the entire cave seemed to shake and the remaining stalagmites threatened to come down along with the pile of boulders she was climbing on. She half slid down half jumped off the pile as the rocks came crashing down and the hole basically became nonexistent. Eri happened to glance down and saw the flyer desperately trying to free himself as the pile moved to crush him completely. She stood back and meant to get further away. "Wait!" a desperate voice called out to her. She stopped but didn't turn around. "You can't leave me here!" he told her and he sounded genuinely terrified. _Why should I help him? He's tried to kill me and my friends how many times? If I was in that position he would just sit back and enjoy the show._ Still, Eri turned around and found herself looking into his frightened face as his optics pleaded with her. _Oh I'm gonna regret this. Damn me and my empathy!_

"Hold on," she grumbled running back over and fought to uncover him. Between the two of them they barely managed to get him out in time as the rocks toppled and the rest of the ceiling came down. Eri coughed as dirt got in her lungs and the world went completely black. But this time it was not because she passed out.

* * *

The Predacon Base.

"Are you sure the pussycat and human are offline?" Megatron grilled him.

"I'm sure Megatron. I saw the cave come down on them and Terrorsaur with my own optics."

"If that's the case the fool gets what he deserves but that still leaves us one short," he nearly growled the last part. "Tarantulas! Waspinator! Get to those coordinates and make sure the Maximal and human are obliterated! If we have in fact lost that idiot than I would at least like the playing field to be evened out."

No one really noticed the saddened look on Waspinator's face. "Terror-bot offline?" he quietly asked. Could his wing-mate really be dead?

* * *

At the cave.

"Stargirl, can ya hear me?" the rat called through the rocks. He attempted to move one but when he did two more fell down from the top in its place. "Ah!" he was frustrated. "This is gettin' us nowhere."

"It's too unstable to try and dig any further," Prime told them.

"But Eri might be in there somewhere," the cat countered. "What if she's hurt?"

"It won't do her or us any good if we offline trying to get to her," the leader quickly answered and they had to jump out of the way as the rocks settled again.

"Not to mention it could be making things worse on her side," the rhino added.

"So what do you suggest we do?" Dinobot inquired. "Leave her to the mercy of an unstable cave and Predacon?"

"How do you know one of them is in there with her?" the rat asked.

"There are only one set of tracks leading out of here vermin," the raptor answered.

"Yeah, but Terrorsaur can fly, Lizardlips."

"Yes but if he was caught in the blast as Cheetor described he would not be flying anywhere." The raptor looked to the pile of rocks with a sneer. "And he is far too resilient to be offlined by a mere cave in, I will give him that."

"So that twisted freak is in there with Eri," Cheetor sounded as alarmed as the rest of them looked.

"Well," Rattrap started and the others prepared for one of his less than optimistic comments, only to be a bit surprised. "We can't sell the little lady short. She's as tough as they come too. And if there's anyone who can outwit the flying turkey it's her." He pulled out his weapon and held it in his servos for the next bit. "And if he so much as looks at her wrong, I'll do more than just blast his wings off."

* * *

_I promise the next chapter will be longer and I am sorry for this not coming out sooner. If you noticed what Rattrap said correlates to his lines in the episode **Power Surge** you'll see why I had him say it now instead of later._

_Also, the Maximals will try to do something more productive next chapter instead of just sitting on their cans I promise. Plus, what will Eri do now that she's alone, in the dark, with Terrorsaur? Wait and see._


	3. Lost in the Dark: Part II

Eri slowly opened her eyes and let out a shaky breath as she regained her senses. This time she was surrounded by complete darkness. She got up and felt for her backpack still on her. Once she got it around she fished inside for something in it until she found it. Eri pulled out a mini flashlight and turned it on. _Good thing I came prepared._ She peered around the space and landed the beam on a familiar figure. Terrorsaur laid there unmoving. He didn't look good coated in dirt, dust, and small rocks. He looked as great as she felt as she noticed his plating was dented in various places.

Gingerly, Eri got to her feet and knew she was going to be sore for a while. She turned the light toward the cave entrance and her heart sunk. Giant boulders laid between her and freedom and dust seemed to refuse to settle completely as tiny pebbles kept coming down. There was no conceivable way to get out that she could see. That pile of rubble looked way too unstable to dig through or try to climb through now. She let out a disgusted sigh._ I'm only stuck here because of him._ She peered down at the unconscious flyer._ He's done nothing but try and kill me. The smart thing to do would've been to have left him there and ran. But… It wouldn't have been the right thing to do. Damn conscious. Now, I'm not only stuck in a cave but now I have to deal with an insane Predacon. Joy. _"Kami, what did I do to deserve this?"

At that moment the flyer let out a grumble and made her jump. _Oh great._ He leaned himself up coughed out some dirt. "Uh," he groaned and held his dented helm. Eri knew this was bad if he got to his feet and she felt in her pocket for the yo-yo in case. "My aching helm." He choose that second to look up at the source of the light and saw her standing there. "You," he growled and attempted to get to his pedes. "I'll rip you…" he seemed to have trouble getting up and stumbled back down to his knee joints. "Just you w-wait fleshy." He finally got to his pedes but teetered back and forth very unstable. "As soon as the ground stops shaking. You'll be sorry you ever meet the fearsome, Terrorsaur," and with that he took a step forward and went careening back to the floor. Eri simply stood there and watched the scene as he didn't exactly look all there. "Um," she was sort of at a loss to do about this. "Are you ok?"

* * *

Outside a short time later.

"Does spider-bot think Terror-bot, cat-bot, and female fleshy-bot offlined?" the wasp asked.

"Perhaps, but we need proof. If they are indeed scraped I wonder if Megatron would let me keep the human's remains," he contemplated. They both heard talking and peered over some rocks to see the Maximals outside the cave entrance.

"This should shoot a high pitched frequency through the rock and allow us to see the inside of the cave," Rhinox explained holding up a device.

"Should?" the rat asked.

"Well I haven't had the chance to test it out yet. And it could be risky. The frequency should act a sort of sonar and allow us to see inside. But…"

"Go on," Optimus prompted.

"It could also act as a catalyst for the unstable landscape and actually make the disruptions worse."

"What if you bring the roof down right on top of her?" the cat spoke up.

"It's a chance we'll have to take if we wish to see inside," the raptor added.

* * *

"It seems as though the fur-ball is still functional," the spider said from their position.

"Then Terror-bot could still be online?" the wasp hopefully asked.

"I wouldn't put it past that fool, but Megatron will not be pleased. The only comforting news is that the human is apparently trapped inside," the wasp didn't particularly care for how the spider went into maniacal laughter after making that statement.

* * *

Back in the cave.

Eri watched the injured flyer as he kind of rolled around on the floor of the cave for a bit. It was like he was a turtle who was flipped upside down. Under less extreme circumstances Eri may have found it funny. Right now, it was merely disconcerting and off-putting. To her it seemed like he just couldn't seem to get his bearings enough to even flip over. Let alone get to his feet again. "This day just got a whole lot weirder."

Of course he grumbled the whole time and let out a stream of cybertronian curses that would've made Rattrap blush. Eri took a step back and assessed the situation seeing as Terrorsuar wasn't the biggest threat in the world. "How the hell am I going to get out of here?" She pointed her beam of light toward the cave entrance but doubted that way was going to yield anything productive. She wasn't going to risk climbing it again and being crushed. And if the boys tried to dig her out it would just crush her from this end and probably kill them as well. So, that left her with one option. Find another way out of the cave.

"Ah," she grumbled thinking back to all those cave movies she'd seen. "Nothing good ever happens in caves." As if to illustrate the point the flyer managed to finally flip over and get to his servos and knees.

"As soon as I catch you I'm gonna… I'm gonna… Oh forget it," he held his dented helm and looked ready to collapse again. "My helm's killing me" Right at that moment the rocks and entire cave almost seemed to vibrate. "What the hell?!" the flyer cried out in alarm. "Not again!" Eri screamed getting ready to run. It looked like everything was ready to come down on the both of them. Eri whirled around and started bolting for it when she heard another sound behind her.

The flyer let out a high pitched squawking noise that tugged at her heart. She actually glanced back to see him barely get his pedes under him and swayed horrendously back and forth. He even banged off the walls and appeared seconds away from collapsing. "WHY ME?!" Eri yelled at whatever higher being obviously hated her as she ran back to him. She got under one of his arms and supported his weight while trying to keep him balanced. "What are you doing?" he growled at her as they practically stumbled forward. "I don't need your help."

"Would you just shut up?" she countered trying to keep them from being crushed by everything.

* * *

Outside.

"Shut it off Rhinox!" Cheetor cried out in alarm as more boulders on their side came flying right at them. They could only imagine what was happening on the other side. They all had to get twenty feet back for their own safety. It took about a full minute for the earth to stop moving and they all stood there in horror. "ERI!" Cheetor unhelpfully yelled at the pile.

"Don't worry spots," the rat attempted to tell himself as well as the cat. "It'll take more than a few rocks to take Stargirl down."

"Did you get anything?" Primal inquired.

Rhinox looked at the readouts. "It looks like the cave is actually part of a system that goes on for miles. I couldn't get a complete readout but with a system like this there's bound to be more than one entrance."

"That's what I like to here! All we have to do is find one of 'em and boom! We find the little lady," the rat said.

Unfortunately the rhino shook his head. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. We have no idea where any possible opening could be. For all we know an opening may not even be in Maximal territory. And there were two distinct energy signatures in there."

"We can't leave Eri alone with Terrorsuar," the cat growled. "He may try something or in the best case try to take her hostage."

"If I recall Eri left the base prepared," Primal stated. "I believe she'll be able to handle the situation, including Terrorsuar, until we are able to get her out. But we can't risk using the scanner again. Rhinox, do you think you can rig up some sort of probe or some other type of scanning device?"

"I might but it'll take a while."

"Well, that's just Prime."

* * *

"Lord Megatron, it appears that the pussycat, human, and moron are functional. However, Terrorsuar and the girl are currently trapped in the cave," the spider commend their leader.

There was an angry growl on the other end and it wasn't hard to picture the scorpion running for cover. "Very well, you and Waspinator remain where you are and we will be there shortly. We'll give the Maximals a little distraction from losing their friend. Yesssss."

* * *

Inside the cave.

Eri coughed a little as she practically drug the flyer through the cave. After bolting for about a full minute the cave seemed to stop trying to crush them and she let him go to get a reasonable distance from him. Injured or not he was still the enemy and she needed to stay leery around him. Both of them leaned against opposing walls, she caught her breath and he tried to keep from falling back to the floor. Then, energon started messing with him. "Beast mode," he managed to get out. There were a few sparks and grinding sounds but he managed to transform and stood there with a little less trouble. But he definitely didn't look any better. "Ow," he groaned as a couple more sparks flew out of his helm. They lit up fairly well in the darkness of the cave. The only other source of light was from her tiny flashlight she still had in her hand. _What am I going to do now?_

Eri finally got her wind back and started heading deeper into the cave, listening carefully to make sure he wasn't following her. "Where are you going?" he said behind her. She sighed but didn't turn around. "Hopefully, t-to get out of h-here." She heard a noise and turned around to see him attempting to hop after her. In her free time she had kind of wondered how he would get around if he wasn't flying. He answered her question but it still looked like he was struggling not to fall over. And now that she was really paying attention she noticed one of his wings looked fried all to hell. Most likely from an exploding energon crystal. "How do you know the way?"

"I d-don't," she truthfully answered.

"Then how do you know if there even is a way out?" his voice got higher and she could almost feel the anxiety in his tone. "What if there's not and we're stuck in here?!" he started hopping up and down in a panic. "I need to get out of here! There's no light! I need air! HELP! HELP!" Eri suddenly understood why the flyer had all those extra lights in his room. He was afraid of the dark, and claustrophobic. _Great. Terrific, this is exactly what I need._

He started laughing insanely and kept hopping about. Though his laughter died down into hysterical distress noises and Eri feared he was about to start bouncing off the walls. Her brain said the smart thing would be to simply leave him to have his breakdown and get the hell out of there. But… "Terrorsuar," she tried but he didn't seem to hear her. "Terrorsuar," she attempted louder and waving her arms but it still did nothing. Deciding the dramatical approach may be better she grabbed him and slapped him hard across the face. "Terrorsuar! You need to calm down, panicking won't help. I need you to stop jumping around and help me find a way out of here. Can you do that?"

He looked at her in shock for a moment before the gravity of her words seeped into his processor. "O-ok," he stuttered and stopped jumping.

Seeing as he appeared to be getting his wits back she decided to use this opportunity. "Alright, now I need to save the batteries in this flashlight. Do you have anything on you that could make a light?"

"No."

"Hold on a second then," she put her backpack on the cave floor for a second and rummaged around until she found what she was looking for. _Too bad I have to use these. So much for that rave Haruko wanted to take me to._ She pulled out a couple of glowsticks, one in the form of a necklace. She cracked a few of them and the light started emitting off of them. In all she had three regular sticks, one necklace, and four bracelets. She put the necklace on Terrorsaur to keep him calm and put the bracelets on herself before placing the rest in her pack and turning the flashlight off. Thankfully, the necklace and bracelets were pretty bright and lit up the area around them. She could hear him intake air through his vents at a fast pace and she decided to put a stop to it. "Don't worry, these last up to eight hours and I plan on being out of here before we use all of them."

This seemed to calm him a bit before he looked into her face. "Why are you doing this? Why bother helping me at all? You know if things were different I would offline you on sight. So, why help me now when I'm slagged and you could just leave me? Not that I want you to but still. Oh, and why did you hit me?"

"Y-you wouldn't understand," she said. "You might be a jerk, and d-don't deny it. We may be e-e-enemies and all but you're still hurt. You were in danger and as-asked me for he-help. My conscious wouldn't just l…let me lea-leave you th-there. I might be stu-stupid for doing so. Heck, when th-this is over you mi…might even kill me. But at least I d-d-did what I fel-felt was right. And I didn't hit you, I slapped you to ca-calm you down."

"You're as softsparked as the Maximals," he grumbled. "But you might have a point in us sticking together. You scratch my back I scratch yours?" She didn't trust him as far as she could throw him. But she wouldn't leave him there in the darkness to lose his mind and die. "Sure," she mumbled.

* * *

_So now there's a bit of a truce. What do you think? My main worry for this chapter was where exactly to end this because I know what all I want to do with this plot point. And did I keep everyone in character? I hope so._

_Oh, not sure if I've put this on this story yet or not but I do not own **Beast Wars** in anyway. The only thing that belongs to me is Eri. _


	4. Lost in the Dark: Part III

They walked for what must've been hours. Eri couldn't keep track of time in the darkness. They were mostly silent except for the few times Eri had to stop to take care of personal matters. He would give her some distance but she noticed he wouldn't get too far ahead of her. Finally, she found herself exhausted and it was clear he wouldn't be able to hop much further either. "M-maybe we should st-stop for the n-night," she suggested. She expected him to complain but instead he practically collapsed where he was and said, "About time."

She took her pack off her shoulders and used it as a pillow. There was no way for her to light a fire and it had gotten considerably colder. Eri didn't know if that was a sign they were close to an opening or not. Although she would have preferred to have been out of there by now. She made sure to lay so she was facing him. _I'm sympathetic but not stupid. I wish I was back at base with the others. And my own bed. _With any luck they would find a way out tomorrow and they could go their separate ways.

* * *

At the Maximal Base.

"How's it going Rhinox?" Primal asked.

"As good as could be expected," was his answer. "I'm almost done with making a makeshift probe to inspect the caves. It should travel the entire length of the systems and find a way out. Along with Eri."

Just then the alarm sounded. "Great!" Rattrap said pulling out his weapon. "Just what we need. The Preds are up to somthin'."

"They are trying to distract us from the caves," Dinobot stated.

"Mighty known they'd pull somethin' like this."

"It doesn't matter," Optimus said. "Rhinox, stay here and finish the probe. Everyone else lock and load."

* * *

Outside.

"Yesss," Megatron growled unloading everything he had on the Maximal shield. "The longer we keep them here the longer that human is at the mercy of the elements. She won't last long, noooooo."

"What about Terror-bot?" Waspinator asked.

"That fool gets what he deserves. With any luck he'll take care of that human for us and then offline." The wasp didn't say anything but had a saddened expression and stopped shooting for a few seconds.

* * *

Somewhere inside the caves.

"Fleshy." Eri mumbled something in her sleep but didn't stir. "Hea, meat-bag." She turned over this time but still didn't open her eyes. "Human! Wake up!" She jolted awake and desperately peered around in the dark. "Huh? W-what?" Her eyes finally managed to focus in the darkness and saw Terrorsaur, still in his beast mode, glaring at her. Though he seemed on the verge of panic. His optics were larger than normal.

"These light sticks are going out!" he yelled at her.

"You mean g-glowsticks," she corrected and saw he was right. They were almost out and she rummaged in her bag and found the normal ones. "Hold on, I h-have a c…couple more." She cracked them and went over to him. She took the necklace off and put two on the normal ones on his neck instead using the strings. She took off her bracelets and used the last one for herself. "What happens when these go out?" he questioned her as they headed off again.

"I st-still have the flashlight. B…but I don't wan-want to use it unless I h-have to. Thankfully, I have ba-ba-batteries for it. So it'll l-last a good while." She turned to smile reassuringly at him. "We'll b-be out of here by th-then."

"How can you do that?"

"D-do what?"

"Be so enthusiastic about all of this! We're lost in a dark cave system. You're separated from all of your little Maximal friends and trapped with a Predacon who would offline you if the situation was different. But you still give me some of your stuff and try to keep me calm. How can you do it?"

She paused and though over it. "W-well I don't really know how e-else to act. I could have left you b-back t…there but it wouldn't have been r-right. Plus, you s-said so yourself that we sh…should work together to g-g-get out of here. I could b-be sad or sc-scared that I'm here with y-you." _Truth be told I kind of am. _"B-but sitting around wa-waiting to be rescued wouldn't do m-me or the Maximals any good. I kn-know they're looking for me. But I h-h-have to help them out too. So, I try to think po-positively. I h-heard the key to survival is ha-having a good attitude. W…who knows? It couldn't hurt."

They kept moving and didn't talk much after that. Until Eri's stomach rumbled. "What was that?" he asked. "My stomach," she answered and put her pack down so she could rummage in it. She found what she was looking for and pulled it out. "You h-hungry?" she inquired. She'd been around the Maximals long enough to know they not only consumed energon but could live off of organic matter.

"Depends. What you got?" he looked at the bag suspiciously.

"Jerky," she answered taking a bite. He looked at her like he had no idea what she was talking about so she elaborated. "It's meat," she held out a piece to him and he still looked at it. "C-come on," she urged. "I wouldn't b-be eating it if it was poison," she took another bite. He sighed but took it from her and gobbled it down. "Got any more?" he asked after savoring it a second.

"Y-yeah, but we'd better save some of it f-for later," she split a couple more pieces with him and then put it away. "What was in that stuff?" he asked looking like he was parched. "H-here," she handed him her water bottle. "B-but remember to save s-some."

"W-what did you think?" she asked as they walked on. "Did y-you like it?"

"It's not fresh-meat but it wasn't too bad," he finally commented. "Could've done without making me feel like I swallowed an ocean." Eri couldn't help it and let out a small giggle. She contributed it to her being so on edge that she would think the smallest clever comment would be funny. He simply looked at her like she was weird but didn't say anything else.

* * *

A couple hours later.

"So then I grabbed him and threw him right in the garbage bin," Terrorsaur finished. Eri tried and failed to stifle a laugh. Earlier there had nearly been another cave in on them. Course he was about to freak out but she found if she kept him talking it worked as a good distraction. And Primus knew he didn't need an excuse to go on about any accomplishment he may have had. Even if it amounted to some stories Eri believed never happened. Or if they did he exaggerated everything about them.

"Hea," she stopped and noticed something ahead of them. "Is that…"

"Light!" he practically screamed and the two of them picked up the pace. But what they were met with was basically a giant slap to the face. The cave opened up alright. But, only the ceiling. There was a hole five cybertronians could have fit through. But there was no way to get up to it. No rocks, plants, or stalactites. The sun was setting and the light shown as both a beacon and a taunt. Of freedom they couldn't reach. Eri looked over and noticed the cave seemed to end. If they went back there'd be no guarantee there was a split off they had missed. And even if they had there was the risk it would end up like this. A useless dead-end. Not like they could turn back. It would take them another two days to get back to where they had started. The water and batteries would most likely run out.

"Can you fly?" she asked him.

He attempted to transform but stopped when sparks flew and they heard gears grinding. Then he tried flapping his wings. She was a little hopeful when he got two feet off the ground but then he plummeted down and hit the cave floor hard. "Slag," he grumbled. "This is all your fault!" he turned on her.

"Excuse me?" she countered.

"You heard me meat-bag. If you and the pussycat hadn't fired at us then we wouldn't even be here."

_That does it._ "What fight were you in?" she was pissed off. "You guys threatened us first and you were the one who collapsed the damn cave! Not me or Cheetor! All I've been trying to do since then is get us out of here and help you! Stupid me, I probably should have left you back there to be crushed or lose your bloody processor."

"Just wait until my internal repairs are done fleshy."

"Yeah, yeah," she cut him off. "You'll kill me or worse. Well mister that isn't today now is it? If you try anything now I'll kick your aft and we both know it. So how about we both just go our separate ways and leave it at that?" She walked away from him and sat down on the other side of the ceiling. Eri figured staying there would be her best bet if the Maximals were looking for her. At least, she didn't see any other good option. Maybe she could figure a way out. Besides, even if Terrorsuar could fly she doubted he's take her with him. He'd probably fly by a few times and taunt her before heading off to the Preds. She didn't want to think what might happen if they all found her stuck in a hole. With no way out.

Meanwhile, the flyer grumbled and sat down opposite of her on the other side of the cave roof. He was thinking how this might be his best option. Once he repaired himself he could easily fly out. He just had to be patient and enjoy the fresh air and sunlight. He wasn't sure what she was going to do and he honestly didn't care.

Eventually the light faded and the night air settled in. Eri shuddered but still had nothing to light a fire with. She put her backpack down and held the flashlight to her. The glowsticks having run out a while ago. Though the stars coming through the roof was enough for her to keep an eye on the Predacon. He hadn't made a move or talked to her but she wasn't taking the chance. She doubted she'd be able to sleep at all anyway due to the temperature drop. She thought it was bad before… Now it was ten times worse. It reminded her of the time she was with Dinobot out in the woods. Only difference was she didn't have a nice companion to share body heat with. Suffice it to say it was one of the longest nights of her life.

* * *

The following morning.

Eri felt beyond horrible. Her back hurt and she was so tired she had a headache. She got up stiffly and peered over at the downed flyer. He woke up as sunlight poured into their domain. Only he smirked at her and didn't seem to be lacking in anything. This just ticked her off and renewed her ambition to get the heck out of there on her own.

* * *

The Maximal Base.

The proximity sensor sounded for what must've been the sixth time in over twelve hours. Anytime the Maximals got a moment it seemed they were put on alert by the Preds either attacking or running in and out of their sensors. It wasn't hard to see what they were doing. Keeping the Maximals on their toes and exhausted. Not to mention it was nearly impossible to leave because then they'd be walking into a possible ambush. Rhinox was finished with his probe but unless they could figure a way around the Predacons there was no way for them to use it.

* * *

The cave.

Eri examined every inch of the cave to find some way out. It was on her third pass she found a root sticking out of the dirt near the top. It ran down the side and she was certain she could grab it. When she angled herself just right she could look through the roof and see it was attached to a large tree._ It should hold me. And it has to be better then me sitting around waiting for flyboy to get his wings back. _So she secured her backpack and latched onto the root. She knew this was going to be tricky so she watched where she put her hands and feet.

Terrorsaur watched her as she examined the entire cave. Then he thought it was a bit funny how she believed she could climb out of there on a flimsy root. There was no way it was going to support her weight. "Hea, fleshy. How's the view up there?" he taunted the higher she got.

Eri choose to ignore him in favor or trying to continue climbing. The way the roof was formed she'd have to use her legs and climb horizontally before she reached the top._ Just don't look down. Don't look down. _Her hands stung and the exposed parts of her legs were being scratched but it was working. The key word being 'was'. She was nearly to the rim when the root moved. "Uh, oh." She froze for a moment and definitely felt the root separate from the ceiling. "No, no, no."

Then, to her horror the root separated from the ceiling and went tumbling through the air. It didn't give out completely but suspended her high up in the air. The force of her body weight made it swing back and forth a little bit and she couldn't help but close her eyes and cling to the root. Like that would help. She couldn't help but let out a surprised scream when she first fell down.

At first he thought it was hilarious. Now, he wasn't so sure as she was suspended in the air and hung onto the root for her life. For some reason his spark clenched a little when she let out a surprised cry and she closed her eyes in fear. He knew it was stupid. He was a fearsome Predacon. A ruler of the skies. He shouldn't even be giving a small bag of moving meat a second thought. He should be laughing at her plight. But he wasn't…

Eri chanced opening her eyes and looked down. Bad mistake. She was about twenty feet off the cave floor and she'd seen enough_ MythBusters_ episodes to know a fall from this height wouldn't be good. But her heart nearly stopped when she looked up and saw it wasn't going to hold her much longer. "Oh shit." There was no way she'd be able to climb it in time so she did the opposite and slid down the root hoping she could get down before it broke. Unfortunately, this didn't occur.

She was halfway down when it gave out. This time things didn't slow down like the time her and Dinobot went flying off the cliff. If anything time seemed to speed up as she fell and hit the cave floor. Lucky for her the pack took most of the hit but she still managed to bang the back of her head off the floor. Her body throbbed in pain and she saw black fuzz filter across her vision. "Awwww," she moaned.

Something came across her field of vision but she didn't have the ability to comprehend who or what it was. "Haruko?" she asked. "Give me five more minutes." And just like that she was out.

"Hea," Terrorsaur poked her in the shoulder. He didn't like how he smelt blood and her eyes had rolled back. "Meat-bag!" he shook her shoulder. "Maximal lover!" he tried again but got no response. He grabbed both of her shoulders. "Eri!"

* * *

_I'm going to post a note after this and I really want you guys to read this. Please._


	5. Glimmer

**Before this chapter starts I wanted to give a shout out to all those you gave me encouragement in my time of need. Keep on keepin' on my wonderful friends!**

* * *

The Maximal Base.

The Predacons were still stationed outside the Maximal base and were getting ready to make another move when the Maximals beat them to it. All of them came charging out of their ship heavily armed. "Maximals!" Optimus called out. "You know what to do. Cover Rhinox."

"Predacons, attack!" Megatron countered. It was all out insanity as both sides fired and dodged back and forth. Optimus took to the sky to cover Rhinox. Seeing as they were down a bot, not to mention a flyer, they were at a slight disadvantage. "Go, Rhinox. I'll cover you."

The rhino charged forward carrying something and headed for the ridge that led to the cave system. They others were distracted but Megatron spotted him and fired his purple laser. It hit the rhino square in the back and he fell forward. "I would have thought you knew better than to underestimate me, Primal," Megatron gloated. Whatever had been in the Maximal's servos had been crushed by his own body weight.

To his surprise the Maximal smirked when he turned to glance back at the Predacon leader. "You shouldn't be the one to underestimate us, Megatron," Primal stated. The so called 'item' Rhinox had been carrying had been little more than a couple pieces of metal welded together. Enraged Megatron snarled and looked around at the rest of the Maximals. That's when he noticed one was missing. "Where is that infernal vermin?!"

* * *

Outside the caves.

"Don't worry kiddo," Rattrap said setting up the probe in a gap between the rocks. "Well get ya out." He was forced to jump back as the rocks slid but the probe made it inside, which had been his entire goal to begin with. "Just hold on."

* * *

In the caves.

Eri felt like crap. Plain and simple. Her head was throbbing in pain and she felt like she was spinning. It took her a good five minutes to be able to open her eyes without feeling like she was going to vomit. Another three minutes were added when she fought to keep the cave from spinning. But when she managed to focus she found the light had considerably dimmed and she guessed it must've been setting. Though she was a bit thankful because she doubted her senses would be able to handle blinding light.

What she found odd was she was laying on her backpack. But not where she had expected. She remembered falling and landing on her back and smacking her head off the floor. But now her head was propped up on her pack. "Wha?" she managed and propped her elbows up.

"So, you're still alive," she heard Terrorsaur say. She glanced over and saw him eating some of her jerky.

"How?" she stopped when she noticed something. There was a makeshift band-aid on her forehead._ But this was in my emergency kit… How is it on me? Wait, could he have? _"D-did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Put thi-this on me?" she gingerly sat up but figured that was all she was gonna be able to do.

"What if I did?"

"W-w-why?"

"What's with all these questions?" he half squawked. "Like I said before kid, you scratch my back I scratch yours. Think of it as payback for helping me out earlier."

All Eri could do was gawk at him for a moment. Terrorsaur… A Predacon who hated her guts with a passion had helped her? _Did I hit my head harder than I thought?_ Still, her hallucinating wouldn't explain the wrapping around her head. _But, he could've killed me. And he didn't._ Slowly, a soft smile came to her face. "Thank you Terrorsaur."

He seemed put off that she was smiling at him. "Eh, don't mention it." He took a bite of jerky and swallowed before he spoke again. "I mean it. One word of this to anyone and your dead!"

"Sure," she still smiled and reached for some of her water. It was too far away though and she had to grab her head to fight off dizziness. The next moment the water bottle rolled over and hit her knee. She looked up but he wasn't looking at her. Her smile returned and the two sat in silence for a while. Until she thought of something. "Hea, Terrorsaur?"

"What?"

"Now that you're talking to me again. What happened to that bot you threw in the garbage bin?" She could've sworn she saw him smirk before he answered. "Well…"

* * *

A little later.

Eri sat there freezing her butt off again. Maybe it was her injury but she could've sworn it was colder this night than the previous one. "T-this s-s-sucks," her teeth chattered. _I wish the guys were here. Wonder if they're nearby._ She couldn't help but picture her little room back on the ship. It wasn't much, a metal room with a metal bed. But it had been warm. Not to mention all of her friends had always been nearby. Even if they were ever attacked Eri felt she'd be safe with all of the Maximals practically down the hall. Well, maybe a couple of halls but still. _I miss them._

To distract herself Eri wondered if Terrorsaur felt the same way in that regard. He and Waspinator looked like they were friends to her. But she wondered if he cared about anyone else. From her interactions with him she knew the wasp was probably missing the flyer. But did anyone else? She doubted Megatron did by the way he treated Terrorsuar. She didn't want to think about the spider and scorpion. But did they miss him? To an extent she felt bad for the Predacon thinking that no one but Waspinator might have cared he was gone. It was the complete opposite from her and the Maximals. She had no doubt they were looking for her and worried. But… _Poor Terrorsaur. Never thought I'd actually feel sorry for him. Being a Predacon must suck. No wonder Dinobot left._

"W-why is it s-s-so fr-freaking co-cold?" she whispered shivering. The flyer and Dinobot never seemed bothered by this. She figured it must be nice not having the temperature to really worry about. Eri found she couldn't sleep because she had to keep moving to stay warm. Curling into a tight ball hadn't helped. But the constant moving also wasn't helping her head. _I am so tired._ Apparently, her little nap earlier hadn't helped much.

She stopped for a moment when she heard Terrorsaur stir. At first she thought he was just turning in his sleep but then she heard the telltale hopping he did. Right at her. Eri didn't really know what to think of it. _If he'd wanted to kill me he would've done it earlier. So what's he doing? _

Before she could turn around she felt warmth envelope her as his wings wrapped around her. _What. The. Hell. _"Uh…" she was literally at a loss. "Terrorsaur, wh-what are y-you d…doing?"

"Quiet," he told her. She couldn't turn around in his grip to tell where exactly his head was. "What's it look like?"

"W-well…" she started but was cut off.

"I can't sleep listening to you move around all night. So just shut up and recharge already."

Eri felt a blush on her face. Besides Dinobot she's never been in a situation like this before. But, Dinobot was a friend and Terrorsuar… Was he an enemy at this point? Honestly, she was beginning to have her doubts. He said he was only doing it because she helped him before. But wasn't he always harping about killing her? So, why not just leave her to die or kill her and steal her stuff? At some point he'd be able to fly out of there. Why go to all the trouble helping her? She didn't think he had the same honorable code as Dinobot when it came to the whole paying her back deal.

_I'm so confused. _Her mind became even fuzzier as she began to feel nice and warm. She yawned and knew she couldn't fight sleep for much longer. But if he did try something it's not like she'd be able to exactly fight him off in her current state. _Maybe I'm overthinking it. _The next moment she fell into blissful dreamland.

* * *

Maximal Base.

"I can't believe the Preds fell for it," Rattrap gloated. "Good thing for us they're a couple sparkplugs short, huh?" Dinobot growled at that but Optimus interrupted them before they could get into it.

"How much of the cave system has it scanned?" he inquired.

"I'd guess about thirty percent, it still has a long way to go. So far it hasn't found any plausible exits Eri could've used."

"Any sign of her?" the cat asked.

"No, it'll alert us if it picks up her or Terrorsaur's signature."

"Think he could be near Stargirl?" Rattrap questioned.

"Knowing him he will not be far from her," Dinobot stated. "Terrorsaur does not do well in enclosed spaces, it will impede his logic circuits. Not to mention he holds a grudge against her. The first opportunity he has he will spring on her."

"Like Eri would let that happen."

"He has done it before has he not?"

"Could you at least try to think on the bright side? Can't believe I'm the one who's sayin' that," Rattrap mumbled the last part. All of the Maximals and ex-Pred fell silent and simply stared at the screen in front of them that relayed all of the ground the probe covered. All they could do now was sit back and wait. And hope Eri was alright.

* * *

Back in the caves.

Eri yawned and got up. Effectively slipping out of the Predacons wings. She tried to be stealthy so she wouldn't wake him but it didn't work. He grumbled before looking and seeing what woke him up. "Where are you going?" he half yawned half grumbled. His optics blinked much like a humans eyes when they were tired or got up too earlier.

"I'll be right back," she answered. "I gotta go to the bathroom." He simply stared a moment more before mumbling something and turning over. Eri went and took care of things but didn't really know what to do when she returned. Should she go back to where he was? Or was that a limited offer? Would he get angry? Luckily he answered her questions.

He turned back and faced her again with a half asleep look on his face. "What are you waiting for?" he asked and opened his wings for her. "Get over here." She did so and laid back down in his wings. Only this time she was facing him. He didn't seem to care and was in recharge within seconds. Feeling exhausted herself Eri snuggled up to him without thinking. She'd worry about him being the enemy in the morning. For now his warmth was lulling her back into a carefree slumber. "G 'night," she barely whispered.

* * *

_Hea guys sorry this is a short chapter but I sill think a lot happened. So... The Maixmals actually did something and Terrorsuar helped Eri out. What do you think? Please let me know if you think any of the characters were too OOC. 'Till next time._


	6. One More Day

The following morning.

Oddly enough it was Terrorsaur who woke up first. This was as much a surprise to him as it would have been to anyone else. He was famous for sleeping in and one of the Preds always had to come into his room yelling at him. Unless it was Waspinator, he usually just persisted until he ticked the other flyer off so much he got up.

He came to awareness gradually. The first thing he noticed was that something warm was pressed up against him. It was nice and soft and without thinking he hugged it to him for a moment. It was certainly better than any pillow type thing he remembered having. Though his foggy circuits reminded him soon enough that he didn't have anything like that.

His optics flashed open to see what in the name of Primus it could be. Only to fall on the human sleeping soundly wrapped up in his wings. For a moment he forgot how she got there… Until events of the previous few days came barreling at him. He relaxed a bit but still couldn't fully comprehend why it was exactly he had helped her out. Those explanations he gave her the other day seemed plausible enough… Didn't they?

As if sensing she was being stared at Eri shifted in her sleep but actually curled up closer to the flayer than turning away. He laid there frozen as she settled back down. She couldn't have been but two inches away from being pressed right into him. And though he would openly deny it to anyone else, even himself at moments, at that time he couldn't argue that he actually liked it.

He knew she was organic so she was bound to be squishy compared to his metal frame. But she was the softest thing he had probably ever felt. Her frame gave a bit under his wings but not like she was mush. The only thing he could compare her to was the warm tender frame he remembered from his carrier. But he didn't even think it came that close. Eri was nice and warm too. Not enough to overheat his systems but enough that he wanted to curl into the warmth.

Though he was a little surprised she had trusted him enough to recharge right next to him. Maybe it was because she had been freezing to death, or because she had been too injured to fight him off. For all he knew it was a mixture of both. But… Looking at her like this was different. He wasn't trying to attack her, she wasn't running away from him or facing off, and none of the Maximals were on his tail. She was still nothing but a human. Although, in recharge she looked innocent and even younger than usual. Two qualities he hadn't seen very much off, even back on Cybertron. It was a pleasant change of pace.

Things were simple like this. They weren't enemies, but he wasn't going to go so far as to call them friends. Waspinator was the closest thing he had in that category and that was only because they were wing-mates. So, he had no clue what to call this. Whatever it was though was enjoyable.

So, he laid there a little longer. Just letting the world turn and the war rage on. All that mattered at that moment was him resting and holding her in his wings. She continued to sleep, oblivious to him occasionally glancing down at her. For once, Terrorsaur got a break.

* * *

A while later.

The bliss couldn't last forever. Eri eventually yawned and began to wake up. She wasn't surprised to wake up in his wings. But she was shocked to see he got up the same time she did. "G' morning," she groggily said getting up to go take care of business. He didn't answer her but watched her walk off.

When she was out of sight he attempted to pump his wings up and down to gage his repairs. Unlike yesterday once he got a few feet in the air he was able to stay up. On the bright side he could now fly out of there and… What exactly? Go back to his ship and get yelled at by Megatron. He doubted Scorponok or Tarantulas would be happy to see him. If anything they'd rub the whole thing in his faceplates. Waspinator would be the best to get a nice welcome from. Only he knew the wasp would practically be up his tailpipe for the next few solar cycles. He appreciated the sentiment but it would get on his nerve circuits.

His thoughts went back to the human. She hadn't yelled at him since their fight. The fleshy would ask him questions but not in a manner that grated on him. And no matter how much he talked it seemed like she was more than willing to listen. But she wasn't rammed up his tailpipe either. Terrorsaur also thought about how nicely she's fit up against him. Having her around wasn't the worst thing.

He landed and not two seconds later she walked back in. One more day wouldn't hurt, right?

* * *

Later that day.

Eri and Terrorsaur sat and ate the last of her jerky when they heard something. Both looked up to notice a ball looking device come flying into where they were. "What is that?" Eri asked standing up. Terrorsaur didn't answer because he was fairly sure he knew the answer.

* * *

The Maximal Base.

An alarm sounded and part of the control panel lit up. "Everyone!" Rhinox called hitting a few buttons. The Maximals and ex-Predacon ran in there in record time.

"What is it?!" the cheetah was the first to ask.

"The probe found Eri," he answered typing.

"Where?" Rattrap questioned.

"Hold on," the rhino said recording where she was. "I may be able to bring up a video feed." Sure enough a blue static filled picture of Eri's face filled the screen as she was shocked to see a picture of all the Maximals.

"Wha?"

"Eri!"

"Stargirl!"

"Human!"

"Are you alright?"

"Where are you?"

"We'll come get you immediately."

"Guys!" Eri shouted to be heard over everyone. "I'm fine and I really have no clue where I am right now."

"Don't worry," Rhinox reassured her. "I'll triangulate your location using the probe, just don't move." He hit a couple more keys and looked alarmed. "Eri, I don't mean to alarm you but my readings show Terrorsaur within fifty feet of you."

"Um," she really didn't know how to answer. Not because she was horribly worried about the flyer's threat. But because she'd promised him. Said flyer came up behind her, in robot form, and grabbed her from behind.

"EEP!" she yelled out in surprise. Her first instinct would be to fight but his grip was loose on her.

"Play along," he whispered in her ear. Then he held her up so the Maximals could see the full picture, including him holding his weapon next to her head.

"Terrorsaur!" she heard Rhinox nearly yell over the line.

"Let go of her," Cheetor growled.

"I don't think so pussycat," the flyer taunted. Eri acted like she was struggling and decided to play along. Though she felt bad for deceiving her friends. "Me and this fleshy are gonna have some fun."

"Terrorsaur," Optimus came on all calm and collected. "You have nothing to gain in harming her. Let Eri go and we'll forget this happened."

"Tempting," the flyer faked thinking. "But no," and with that line he shot the probe and destroyed it. After that he let Eri go and converted to beast mode like nothing had happened.

"You know they'll be after you now," she said putting her backpack on. "You coulda just went with their offer."

"What fun would that be?" He flapped his wings and she was stunned to see he could fly. "Now I gotta get out of here before your little friends show up."

"Ok," she said. And Eri couldn't place it but she felt a little sad at seeing the flyer go. Though she couldn't blame for leaving. "Guess I'll see you."

"Remember fleshy this changes nothing. The next time I see you you're fair game."

"Yeah," she sighed and looked down.

"What's with that look?" he internally asked himself. Shouldn't she be happy that her friends were coming to rescue her? And why did he even care what she felt? _Stupid Maximal lover. Her infernal feelings must be rubbing off on me. _But, he had wanted at least one more day. He knew his wish had been obliterated. Although, it didn't have to be destroyed just yet.

Eri was surprised when he landed again and he turned around. "Hop on," he sounded reluctant but Eri couldn't comprehend it.

"What? Why?"

"Why the pit do you think?" he snarled but it didn't seem to hold much anger behind it. "You saved me twice. The least I can do is make sure those stupid Maximals find you. This way we'll be even. Now get on before I change my mind."

She didn't need to be told twice. Without hesitating she put her arms around his neck and he lifted them both up into the air. It was way different for her because she'd never been giving a lift by someone who could fly. She excluded the one time she plowed into him and they both fell out of the sky. They kept going up and up and sure enough they took off out of the hole. She glanced down one more time before he leveled out and she got a great view of the entire landscape beneath them.

She knew it could all be a trick. He could simply be using her to save his own aft. The flyer could be trying to get her comfortable and unsuspecting before he delivered the final blow. Or he could be headed off to hand her over to the Predacons for his own benefit. But… As Eri soared in the sky, her instincts told her he didn't mean her any harm.

"Thanks Terrorsaur," she tried to hide her smile in his neck but failed. He could hear it in the way she spoke. She couldn't see it from her position but the flyer had a small gentle grin of his own.

* * *

_Sorry this chapter was so short but the next one will be longer. I say thanks to _**Deadly Fangs**_ who gave me a lovely review. I was having a bad day and you made me smile. I really appreciate the feedback people!_


	7. Power Trip

**Hello everyone. I appreciate all the feedback you guys have given me the past couple of chapters. Unfortunately, the nice decent Terrorsaur we've grown to like is going to change in this chapter. The next couple of chapters will be my own version of what might have happened during the episode Power Surge if Terrorsaur had been allotted enough power to actually rule the Predacons a few days instead of for an hour. Like I said I will follow the episodes but will throw in my own twists here and there. Hope you like it.**

* * *

All the Maximals were literally at a dead run for Eri's last recorded location. Except for Optimus who flew as much as he could before the energon buildup got to him. The others joined him in seeing the destroyed probe and Eri nowhere in sight.

"Do you think the flying turkey snatched Stargirl?" Rattrap asked.

"The evidence doesn't point to much else," Rhinox said.

"We gotta find her!" Cheetor nearly shouted.

"Everyone split up and report if you see anything," Primal ordered. "If you find Eri and Terrorsaur do not engage unless absolutely necessary. We don't want to set him off." And with that the Maximals and Dinobot all spread out in a grid formation to find their missing friend.

* * *

Elsewhere.

"So, what's the plan?" Eri asked.

"I'll drop you off near the boarder and then head to my base," the flyer informed her. "I assume you can find your own way back."

"Yeah."

"Good, I'm sure one of your Maximal friends will find you before that." Something seemed to catch his attention for a moment. He let out a small chuckle before saying, "Watch this." With that he dive-bombed a nearby eagle who just so happened to be flying nearby. The poor bird never saw it coming as Terrorsaur swallowed it whole. "Aw, it's good to be a Predacon," he commented.

Eri made a disgusted face. "Was that really necessary?"

"Well excuse me if I can't live off of a few pieces of meat every day," he started but both of them gasped as he flew up over a nearby ridge and they spotted a floating mountain. Literally, it was suspended in midair. "By the Inferno," he said.

"Holy crap," Eri added.

He flew over to it and into a crack it had in the side of it. They saw huge crystals of energon that sprouted from every corner of it. Some of them Eri could have sworn were as big as skyscrapers. If not larger.

"Power," the way he said it had Eri a little on alert. "This rock's alive with it." He flew into what appeared to be the center where most of the crystals were focused. "Energon. Enough to power an army." _Oh no._ "I have to chance a scan." He landed and she quickly slid off of his back. "Terrorsaur, Terrorize," he said and transformed.

For a second they both stood there and gazed up at the enormous structures. Then he started having white and blue pulses like the Maiximals had before. "Danger," she overheard Terrorsaur's systems warn him. "Energon surge. Return to beast mode or stasis lock is eminent."

"I must act fast," he stated. "A small sample will do," he started heading toward one of the smaller crystals.

_So do I._ Eri grabbed onto a different small crystal near her and managed to break it off and shove it into her bag. _I need to get this to the guys._ She grabbed another, slightly larger one, when she saw Terrorsaur get shocked and sent flying backward. He cried out as he was invisibly held between two of the larger crystals and she saw energon flood his systems. "Terrorsaur!" she broke the piece without thinking and ran over to him. "Are you alright?" she asked when whatever had been holding him there suddenly looked like it let go.

She could tell something was off. Instead of the normal white and blue energon surge pattern it appeared to still be happening but with red and white surges instead. He didn't seem to notice her at first. "The energon's been absorbed directly into my super structure. I've never felt such power. I'm invincible!" he yelled out raising his servos. Eri took a step back and couldn't believe it.

"Te-Terrorsaur?" she lightly asked.

He finally turned to her. "Aw, Eri," he actually said her name. "I see you've been busy," he motioned toward the crystal she held. "Why don't you collect a few more for the road?" he didn't really ask as he grabbed the one out of her hand and shoved it in her bag.

"Wh-what's g-going on with y-you?" she questioned as he packed a few more in and then handed it back to her.

"Just a little upgrade dearie," he then lifted her up off her feet and held her bridal style.

"What are you doing?!" she inquired.

"We're going to go pay Megatron a little visit," he simply answered and she didn't care for how he sneered his own leader's name. His thrusters started and it took everything Eri had not to cry out. Unlike earlier which had felt natural and fun, this was fast and harsh. It reminded her of a rollercoaster she couldn't get off. _What am I going to do now?! How can I warn the guys?_

* * *

Nearby.

Cheetor sat on the edge of a ridge and Terrorsaur torpedoing through the air. What was worse, he had Eri in his servos! The cat barely turned his head in time to catch where the flyer was going. "Jumpin gyros! I've never seen Terrorsaur move that fast! But don't worry Eri he won't leave me in the dust!" He let out a small growl and began the chase. But as he was running, "Cheetor to Optimus! Cheetor to Optimus!"

* * *

The Predacon Base.

All of the Predacons stood atop one of the mountains near their base. Except for Waspinator who was hovering as he buzzed. A little yellow box thing floated in the center of them.

"I've programmed this target box with the Maximal's energy signatures," Megatron informed his subordinates. "Now watch." The little thing flew away from them and went past one of their targeting weapons. The gun came online and immediately shot the box to pieces. All of the Predacons chuckled in joy. "Excellent. With a few more of these in place this area will become a deathtrap for the Maximals."

He was interrupted as they heard familiar screeching overhead. They looked up to see Terrorsaur flying in with the human in his servos. "Just the sort of plan a cowardly lizard like yourself would conceive of Megatron," he set Eri down on the ground while he stayed up in the air. "Which is why I am assuming command of the Predacons!" he announced.

"W-what?" Scorponok stuttered.

"I see you're still alive and so is that human," Megatron said. He took a step toward her but Terrorsaur kept himself between the Predacon leader and Eri. "I thought you already learned your lesson about challenging me Terrorsaur?" Megatron got right up in the flyer's face. The others scattered and Eri kept a safe distance from everyone. Though she did hear Waspinator exclaim, "Terror-bot back!" in a happy tone.

Said flyer didn't back down and kept himself suspended in the air so he could be eye level, even a foot above Megatron's helm. "Today I'm the teacher. If you have the courage!" he challenged.

"Very well," Megatron sounded a little pissed. "I could use some amusement. Megatron, Terrorize!" As soon as he transformed he fired four missiles at the flyer. Though the flyer took them well and didn't even seem to have a scratch on him.

"Haha! That was amusing!" he taunted. "Not as funny as this!" He popped out shoulder cannons that looked like they were doubled in size and fired multiple times at the Predacon leader. Megatron was forced to dodge but eventually got one right in his chestplates. It sent him tumbling over the side of the mountain and he hit numerous rocks until he came to a stop on a small plateau. All the others, including Eri, peered over the side.

"Megatron?" Scorponok asked.

The leader got to his pedes while letting out a disgusted growl. "Terrorsaur, you treacherous worm. I'll finish you forever!" he charged at the flyer who'd landed right behind him.

"I don't think so," Terrorsaur stated whipping out another tricked out weapon and fired on him. Eri saw the Predacon leader losing pieces and even an entire arm before he went falling off the side. All of them heard Megatron yell out as he bounced all the way down and was literally torn apart.

"Hehehe!" Terrorsaur chuckled.

"Megatron is destroyed," Scorponok said in utter disbelief.

"Waspinator does not believe it!"

"Terrorsaur has never had that much power," Tarantulas commented.

"Oh crap," Eri whispered. _If he can do that to Megatron then what can he do to all of the Maximals?!_ The flyer flew back up to where they were.

"Megatron is scrap, yesss. I'm your leader now. Does anyone want to argue about it?"

"No," Scorponok said.

"Not me," Waspinator added.

"No no no no," the spider shook his helm.

"Good, now charge yourselves for battle. The Maximals will be the next to taste my power!" Eri looked on horrified but knew there wasn't much she could do. He could catch her before he got super charged, now she wouldn't make it five feet.

"And what about the human Terrorsaur?" Tarantulas asked.

"Predacons," he grabbed her backpack and tugged her over to stand beside him. "Meet my new pet. No one touches her unless I say so got it?" he snarled. They all shook their heads. "Now, Eri, you can stick around to see all your puny Maximals be ripped to shreds!"

* * *

Close by.

Cheetor sat on a neighboring mountaintop where he could hear and see everything. "Ultra bad," he was disturbed. "I gotta tell the others!" he raced off to meet up with them.


	8. Power Play

**So this entire plot bunny came about when I thought, 'What if Terrorsaur got to lead the Preds for more than five minutes?' And what if it took longer to revive Megatron? Come on the guy was blasted to bits and is put back together in two hours where it might even take days for other major injuries to be fixed. One more chapter after this and this little arc will be all wrapped up. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Here are my orders," Terrorsaur continued. "Waspinator and I…" he cut off midsentence and hunched over seemingly in pain. He grabbed his middle and Eri saw regular energon surges going through his system. _Someone ran out of juice._ "Was-Waspinator and I…" his optics actually twitched.

"Is something wrong Terrorsaur?" Tarantulas asked and she doubted it was because he actually cared.

He turned away from them but Eri was close enough to hear him say, "Diagnostic, my circuits only." He didn't look pleased by whatever information his systems gave him. "I uh must uh," he stalled and grabbed his middle again. "See to something before the attack," he said and latched onto Eri's backpack again. "Come along human," he ordered her and practically dragged her toward the ship. "While I am preoccupied ready yourselves for battle."

The Predacons just stood there for a moment not really knowing what to do. "Hm interesting," the spider said before heading off for the ship himself. Leaving Scorponok and Waspinator there.

"Well?" the wasp asked.

"Well what?"

"What are we going to do?"

"Make ready the restoration module. We will salvage our true leader," the scorpion said and made his way toward the fallen Megatron.

* * *

Elsewhere.

The Maximals and Dinobot stood around waiting for the cat to meet up with them. "Incoming," Rhinox was the first to see him. "Looks like he's coming in at top speed."

"Cheetor wouldn't be moving that fast unless he had something urgent to report," Optimus stated.

The cat skidded to a stop in front of them and barely managed without running into them in the process. He was panting like crazy. "Big-bot!" he exclaimed out of breath. "Predacons… Attacking… Megatron scrapped Terrorsaur… Pet Eri… Power source… Mountain floating…" his words came out as gargled gibberish.

"Calm down Cheetor," Optimus said. "Catch your breath first." The cat did what he was told and took a long deep breath. "That's better. Now tell us what happened, slowly."

"Right," the cat replied. "Terrorsaur's leading the Predacons now. He's taken Eri as a pet and is going to attack our base."

Rattrap and Rhinox gasped at that and the others gave him an incredulous look.

"What about Megatron?" the Prime asked.

"Terrorsaur scraped him like he was a-a maintenance bot," the cat explained. "He must have found some monster energon source on that floating mountain after he snatched Eri."

"Floating mountain?" Rhinox inquired.

"I knew it," Rattrap interrupted. "You've got your circuits crossed kiddo. Even on this weird dirtball mountains don't fly."

"Not fly," Cheetor corrected. "Float. It's true Optimus I saw it. Terrorsaur flew away from it faster than I've ever seen him move."

"We'll have to look into it later," the ape replied. "Right now we have to rescue Eri."

"We should strike first before Terrorsaur has time to prepare an assault," Dinobot stated.

"For once Dinobutt's right," the rat agreed. "Let's go get the little lady."

* * *

At the Predacon Base.

Terrorsaur pulled Eri into his room and locked the door behind him. "W-what are you going to d-do now?" she asked. He didn't answer her as he snatched up her backpack. "Y-you can't hi-hide this fo-forever."

"Once I get those pesky Maximals out of the way I won't need to," he answered and grabbed two of the energon crystals he'd previously shoved in her pack. "Good thing I came prepared." Right before her eyes the crystals seemed to be absorbed directly into his systems. Or at least their energy was. The surges coursing through his frame returned to being freakishly red and white. The crystals he held disintegrated right in his servos. "Much better." _He'll run out eventually. I just have to stall until then._

"Now," he turned to her and she didn't care for the smirk on his face. "There's something I've been meaning to do."

* * *

A while later.

It was dark as the Maximals snuck toward the Predacon ship. So far they hadn't encountered any resistance and the Predacons autoweapons hadn't even been on. "I don't like this," the rat whispered holding his weapon close. "It's too easy."

As soon as he said it lights lit up all around them and illuminated the rocks they'd all been hiding behind. "You just had to jinx it," the cat looked at him.

"Maximals!" a voice boomed and they peered toward the ship. "How nice of you to join us," lights lit up a section of the ship and they saw Terrorsaur. He was sitting on what had previously been Megatron's chair. "At least you were considerate enough to save me the trouble of hunting you down."

"Where's Eri?!" Cheetor yelled at him.

"Who?" he played dumb. "Oh, you mean my new pet, right? ERI!" he called in a sickening fashion. "Come her girl," he pulled on a piece of metal that looked like a cable in his servo. Eri was pulled out of the shadows and it was revealed she had a collar like device placed around her neck. Her hands grabbed at the metal but there was no way she'd be able to pry it off on her own.

"Little lady!" the rat called.

"She's a nice edition to my throne don't you think?" the flyer asked pulling her even closer. Eri fought it but was nearly chocked. He pulled her close enough to him so that he could pet her hair. "Let go of me!" she shouted at him. He just ignored her and continued to pet her. "Feisty isn't she?" he asked the Maximals. "But that's what I find most amusing."

To say the Maximals and ex-Predacon were sickened at how she was being treated would be the understatement of the century. "You no good pile of slaggin'!" Rattrap started and Rhinox had to hold him back. Though the rhino looked more pissed off than the others ever remembered seeing him.

Cheetor barely kept his position as he growled out loud. "Let her go or I'll make sure there'll be nothing left of you for the scrapheap!"

"I'll send you to the pit personally!" Dinobot was stopped by Optimus.

"What's wrong?" the flyer taunted. "You know, pet. I think they miss you."

"Terrorsaur," Optimus somehow managed to get out. He appeared the most coherent one but when he spoke everyone could hear a barely controlled rage starting. "Let Eri go and we will leave. We want no confrontation with you." He paused a moment and it seemed like the flyer wasn't going to reply but simply stare at them with a smirk on his faceplates. Seeing this, Primal spoke again. "I can promise you this. If you don't release her now we'll personally make sure you'll never lay a servo on her again."

"Is that a threat Primal?"

"If it has to be."

"Don't let him get to you!" Eri shouted. "Get out while you can! EEP!" the flyer pulled on her collar and they all heard her make a gagging sound.

"Seems my pet needs to learn some manners," Terrorsaur smirked. "Oh well. I guess I'll get to it later. Once I obliterate you!" He loosened the collar and stood up from the chair. He used his thrusters to keep himself airborne. "Predacons! Attack!" he ordered.

The others appeared from various positions around the ship and opened fire on the Maximals. They were all forced to duck behind their cover and return their own fire. The Maximals knew they were outmaneuvered but they had numbers on their side. For a short time Terrorsaur simply hovered in midair and enjoyed the show. But after a few moments it looked like the Maximals were holding their own. "Eh, now it's my turn to have some fun," he said and motioned for Waspinator to come over. "Keep her here," he handed him the leash. "I wouldn't want her to miss the destruction of her little friends," he smirked at her and whipped out his ridiculously large weapon.

He opened fire at the Maximals himself and completely destroyed their cover. "Wha?" Rattrap asked and everyone else was equally stunned. Even after Cheetor's earlier report they weren't expecting this.

"I'll tell you what," the flyer teased. "I'll take you all on myself." He fired his eye lasers at the group and they were forced to scatter.

"Return fire!" Optimus ordered. They each took their own shot and to their shock the flyer didn't even attempt to dodge. But their fire didn't even look like it fazed him.

"Is that the best you can do?" he shot and hit Rhinox square in his chestplate. Sending the rhino back about twenty feet.

"He doesn't have a scratch on 'em!" the rat exclaimed.

"Keep at him!" Optimus said.

Cheetor tried to make his way behind the flyer as Terrorsaur focused his attention elsewhere. Dinobot saw the cat's strategy and at the same moment the cat made his move so did he. He bluntly charged forward but the flyer wasn't worried. He blasted Dinobot once and sent him flying before turning right around and merely tossing the cat thirty feet. Next he used his eye lasers to take out both Rattrap and Optimus.

All of the Maximals were down for the count. And none of them looked like they'd be getting up anytime soon. Terrorsaur laughed as he slowly made his way over to them. "Looks like I did what Megatron couldn't," he announced. "All you pathetic Maximals are completely helpless and at my disposal." The other Preds stayed quiet because they couldn't believe it. Eri watched horrified as her friends all moaned and tried to get up but fell due to their wounds. The flyer got closer and closer to Optimus.

"STOP!" she shouted and yanked her leash out of Waspinator's grasp.

"Fleshy femme!" the wasp called after her.

She ran until she came in between the flyer and the Maximal leader. "Stop it!"

"Eri!" Rhinox exclaimed.

"Foolish girl!" Dinobot added.

"Look out!" the cat warned.

"Stargirl, get away from 'em!"

"Eri," Primal looked up to see her defending him. "Get out of here."

"What was that, pet?" Terrorsaur seemed more amused than anything.

Thinking fast Eri came up with a plan. "W-what I meant was why waste the moment?"

"What?!" most of the Maximals yelled.

"Don't you want to draw it out for as long as possible?" she went on. "Why not let them have a bit of false hope? Kill them tomorrow when you can really savor the torture. It'd be too easy to just offline them now."

The flyer pondered what she said and glanced at the Maximals. Eri knew she had to sweeten the deal. "Please?" she was disgusted how pleading her voice actually sounded. She took a step forward and gently grabbed one of his servos, the one not holding his weapon. "Do this one little thing for me? Lord Terrorsaur?"

"Hmmm," he gazed down at her as she used the 'sad eyes' on him.

"You're not really considering…" the spider started but was cut off.

"Who's the leader here?" the flyer snarled. "Well, Eri you do have a point," he took his servo out of her hands and gave her a pat on the head. "I'll never get this moment back again. Why not enjoy it?" He glanced to all of the Maximals as they managed to get to their pedes. Barely. "Maximals! Consider this a pardon from my beloved pet. I'll give you this night to set your affairs in order. To say goodbye to this world. But come tomorrow you're sparks are mine!" he gestured for them to leave. For a moment they just stood there and gazed at their human friend.

She turned on them and made an angry face. "You heard him!" they were shocked she actually shouted at them. "Leave while you still have the chance! Flee before the mighty Terrorsaur! Furōtingu yama o mitsuke, hakai suru.!" her dialect changed to Japanese in her apparent distress.

"I'd take this last chance Maximals," Terrorsaur said.

They looked to their leader. "Maximals," he said. "Retreat." The others hung their helms and couldn't believe it. Not only had they lost, but they'd also lost Eri.

* * *

A short time later.

Terrosaur was forced to use two more crystals as his energy wore down. _He has two more and then he's done. _She stood in his room with him and was unsure of what to do next. She'd bought the Maximal's time and hoped Rattrap understood her message. Eri hated having to act like that and treat her friends so badly. _Hopefully they'll forgive me when this is all over._

"Eri," the flyer interrupted her thoughts. He laid down on his berth and motioned for her to come over. She hesitated a moment not sure what to do. "Come on. I was even nice enough to allow you're little Maximals to live another night. Maybe I could go and finish them off now…"

"No no no," Eri was quick to cover. "Sorry, Lord Terrorsaur I was just thinking about the glorious victory you're going to have tomorrow."

"Oh? Well, well what do ya know?" She slowly walked over and sat on the edge but he grabbed her and pulled her against him like she was a teddy bear or something. "Tomorrow will be glorious indeed. The Maximals will be finished, the Predacons will swear eternal loyalty to me, and I have a wonderful and appreciative new pet." He gave her hair a pat. She still wore the collar but he'd at least taken the leash off of her. "And to clarify a little point. When we're alone you may simply refer to me as Terrorsaur."

He said the last part seemingly out of nowhere and it caught her off guard. "O-ok. Good night Terrorsuar," she reluctantly snuggled up to him and closed her eyes. His chest rose and fell with his intakes and she could faintly hear his spark pulsing. It was all so different from the previous night. It seemed like an eternity ago already. She hoped she'd dream of better times. And silently prayed to whatever was out there that tomorrow would be the day this nightmare ended.

* * *

Maximal Base.

"I can't believe it," Cheetor said stepping out of the CR chamber. "Eri on the Pred's side?"

"She only did it to save our skins," Rhinox said.

"There is no conceivable way she would join them otherwise," Dinobot actually vouched for her.

"We have to figure out a way to stop him," Primal stated.

"Stargirl not only saved our butts back there but she gave us a clue too," Rattrap spoke up.

"What do you mean?" the rhino questioned.

"Back when she was yelling at us to leave she briefly spoke in Japanese. She knows I'm the only one out of all the Preds and Maximals that can understand her."

"So, what'd she say?" the cat asked.

"She said, 'Find and destroy the floating mountain.'"


	9. Power Surge

The following morning.

Unlike the time in the cave where she woke up gradually this time she shot up as Terrorsaur squawked in pain. He immediately went over to her backpack and got out two more crystals. _Those are the last ones. If he wants anymore he'll have to go get them. I just hope the boys found that mountain. _After he powered up he turned to face her again. "Looks like we're going on a little field trip," he told her and grabbed onto her collar. Fortunately, it wasn't a hard enough of a grip to actually chock her. She wisely didn't say anything and smiled up at him.

"But I think you'll appreciate the fresh air. If I'm going to finish the Maximals for good then I'll need just a few more."

He looked like he wanted her to say something. "Whatever you command, Terrorsaur."

* * *

At the Maximal Base.

All of the Maximals stood around their control panel. "Rhinox," Optimus spoke up. "Intensify the perimeter scan. Now, where did you see this floating mountain?"

A holographic screen of the planet came up and it locked on the location Cheetor pointed at. "Right here."

* * *

At the Pred Base.

Terrorsaur made up another excuse for why they had to leave before the attack. He unwisely left Tarantulas in charge and Eri knew that was a big mistake. But she wasn't going to comment on it as he transformed and she held onto his neck as they flew off.

It left the spider, scorpion, and wasp just waiting there. "What does he mean you command?!" Scorponok was outraged. "I'm second-in-command!"

"So, command," Tarantulas brushed it off and left.

"If you're second-in-command," the wasp spoke up. "What is your command?"

"We finish restoring our leader," he said as they headed back to base to check on Megatron's progress. He couldn't be too bad now. After all, he's been in one of the CR baths all night.

* * *

Elsewhere.

Terrorsaur flew at a rather slow pace and every once and a while let out a squawk of pain as his systems drained. Under any other circumstance Eri would've felt bad for him. But not right then. Especially with the tight collar still around her neck.

Little did the two know they were being stalked down below. Due to the flyer's sluggish pace the spider was easily able to keep up with them. He cackled as he kept an eye on the two. "That's right. Lead me to your secret. Then we'll see who commands who. And who is the one that gets to keep that little human as a pet."

* * *

The Maximal Base.

The scans intensified enough to show some sort of structure up in the air. They also had a red and purple signature up on the screen. "I've got two of 'em," Rhinox announced.

"Patch it into the map grid," Optimus instructed.

The rhino hit a few keys, "Looks like Terrorsaur and…" He was cut off as the screen flickered for a moment. "Huh?"

"Hea," Rattrap said. "What happened?"

"Looks like energon interference," was the answer. "They must be near a large concentration of it."

Primal hit a couple more buttons and made of trajectory of the Pred's paths. Sure enough, a picture of a floating mountain appeared as clear as day. "A mountain of it to be more precise."

"Told ya rat-breath," the cat lightly punched him in the shoulder.

"You ask me, you and Optimus both need to be debugged."

"You believed Eri without a second thought!"

"Yeah, well she's different."

"How?"

"Cause I knew she doesn't have a few screws loose."

"You know it's possible," Rhinox interrupted them. "If the energon were unstable and there was a big enough concentration it could lift a mountain off the ground."

"My thought exactly," Primal confirmed. "Rattrap rig for demolition and meet me at the roof hatch in five cycles."

"To do what?"

"Destroy that mountain before the Predacons try to secure it. Rhinox, set the defense grid on maximum."

"It's always somethin'," the rat grumbled.

"And what of Eri?" Dinobot asked. "Are we going to leave her at the mercy of the other Predacons?"

"We don't know if she's with Terrorsaur or at their ship," the Prime answered. "We'll have to be ready for either case. Dinobot, you and Cheetor be ready to move. I want an eye kept on all the other Predacons while we're gone. If she's with Terrorsaur we'll handle the situation."

* * *

At the mountain.

Eri and the flyer finally made it there and not too soon if you asked her. She didn't want him to be on another power trip but he was really out of breath and drooped a lot. Not a great confidence builder when you're in midflight.

* * *

Below them.

"Tarantulas, Terrorize!" Not two seconds after he transformed energon surges course through his systems. "Energon concentration in danger level," his systems warned. "Stasis lock in five cycles."

He just scoffed. "More than enough time," he pulled out his weapon and shot it up at the mountain. It caught and he immediately went back into beast mode. He scurried up the rope rather easily.

* * *

Nearby.

Rattrap, in beast mode, road on top of Optimus as they flew. "Man oh man! If I wanted to fly I would've become a bat not a rat."

"It was the fastest way," Primal countered. "And would you stop wiggling?"

The rat didn't care for how fast the landscape passed underneath them. "Oh. I really really hate this," he complained.

"Calm down, we're here." They looked up to see the floating mountain the cat had described and Eri had mentioned. Rattrap let out a whistle at the size of the thing.

They flew in and landed. Rattrap quickly hopped off the Prime and kissed the ground. Energon surges went through Optimus' frame. "Danger, energon surge," his system announced. "Return to beast mode or stasis lock is eminent." He did so and they traveled further into the structure. "Cheetor was right. This mountain is bristling with energon. We'll have to use our robotic forms sparingly."

"Let's grab the little lady if she's here, blow this joint, and go home," Rattrap said. He made a low hissing sound as they saw Terrorsaur come in for a landing. Eri right on his back. Both hid behind a rock structure so they weren't seen.

"Now to regain my power," the flyer said walking in between two larger energon crystals. "Put some in your pack," he ordered Eri. She nodded and acted like she was as he was distracted.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Terrorsaur cried out as the surges returned to being red and white once more. Eri kept acting busy but knew he probably wouldn't buy it.

"Uh oh," Rattrap said from their position. "This is bad." They ducked back down again. "Now what fearless-leader? That Pred looks like he could eat tironium."

"Look, his circuits can't hold a charge that massive for long. I'll lead him away. You get Eri and set the charges and I'll come back for you both in four cycles."

"And suppose he blasts you to itty-bitty pieces?" the rat countered. "It's a long way down."

"Sure is."

Rattrap let out a sigh. "I hate a wise-bot."

Optimus got out in the open right as the flyer began walking toward Eri. "Optimus Primal, Maximize!"

Terrorsaur turned around. "Optimus, how nice of you to save me the trouble of hunting you down."

"Let's do it," the Maximal leader said and flew off.

"Stay here pet," the flyer told her. "This won't take a cycle." He quickly shot after the Prime.

Optimus was forced to dodge both the floating rocks and Terrorsaur's supercharged missiles as they flew around the mountain. At one point he stopped dead in the air and let the flyer pass him before firing a few rounds himself. They hit the flyer dead on. But besides him letting out a surprised grunt and being thrown back five feet they didn't do much.

"Now you've made me mad!" and then he unleashed a whole new volley of missiles at the Prime.

* * *

Meanwhile.

"Little lady!"

"Rattrap! Boy, I'm happy to see you."

"Me too sister but right now I've got a job to do. Man, with all of this energon around I'll have to work fast. Rattrap, Maximize." He did and like all the others energon surges coursed through him. "Danger," Eri heard his systems. "Stasis lock eminent."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the rat said as he walked up to one of the larger crystals. He pulled a bomb out of his left arm and charged it before sticking it right to the energon. He repeated the process with a bomb out of his left arm on a neighboring crystal before transforming back.

"I'm glad you understood my message," she stated.

"That was pretty clever back there, Stargirl. Almost had us goin' for a second. But we can compare notes later. Now, if Optimus can just get back in time."

* * *

Elsewhere.

The Maximal leader was barely able to dodge the missiles that whizzed past him. At one point Terrorsaur got smart and shot a giant floating rock right above him. It crumbled and some of the bits hit Optimus. He could only suspend himself there dazed for a few moments. But that was all the flyer needed.

"You're mine now, Maximal!" he shot lasers out of his eyes and scored direct hits. He harshly laughed as Optimus yelled out and fell onto the mountain.

"Energon surge," the Prime's systems warned. "Stasis lock eminent."

"Have to transform," he managed to get out as the surges racked his frame. "Or I'm finished." He did and glanced up in time to see Terrorsaur making his way toward him.

* * *

Nearby.

Rattrap and Eri were walking around the mountain hoping to find Optimus when she got that weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. _This can't be good._ Next thing they knew they heard a familiar evil laugh. The spider jumped them both. He knocked Eri out of the way and landed right on the rat. "Surprise!"

Rattrap panicked and followed his instincts. He got up and literally ran with the spider on his back. Luckily there were some rocks he managed to squeeze under and they knocked the spider off. Eri got up in a flash and ran over to her friend. "Sorry bug-bot," the rat sneered. "But we've got no time to play with you."

They started forward again but the spider got up and jumped in front of them. He chuckled evilly. "I'm afraid I insist." He shot web out and caught Eri's foot. Then he went after Rattrap. The rat punched the spider and it was an epic match as Eri pulled her leg free and ran over. She kicked the spider a good one and sent him flying a couple of feet. But he got right back up and hissed at her. "You'll regret that human!"

"Shove it up your tailpipe!" she countered.

* * *

Elsewhere.

Terrorsaur held his new tricked out weapon right in Optimus' face. "Say goodbye Optimus Primal!" But before he could land the finishing shot the energon ran out and pain coursed through his systems. His own annoying systems warned him of energon drain. "No! Not now!" he flew a little and transformed in the air. Then, he casually circled back around to taunt the Prime. "I'll be back for you as soon as I replenish my power."

Primal forced himself to get up and moving. "Got to get to Rattrap and Eri. Not much time."

* * *

At the same time.

The spider managed to tackle Eri to the ground but before he could do anything Rattrap tackled him and they both rolled away from her. "Rattrap!" she yelled and got to her feet.

They both rolled until they were right on the edge of the mountain. At first the rat was on top and kept the spider's fangs at bay. But then the arachnid turned the tides and pinned the rat. He didn't manage to do anything however because the rat kicked him off and sent him flying into the nearby rock face. Eri rejoined the rat as the spider caught himself and faced them.

"You can't win human, vermin!" he told both of them. "I am your superior."

"You know how many of your kind I've squished with a tissue?" Eri countered.

"Stick it in your command module, eight-eyes!" the rat taunted.

Pissed at their responses the spider yelled out in rage and charged them. Thinking fast, the rat picked up some of the dirt and threw it right in Tarantulas' eyes. Then, they both jumped out of the way before the spider got to them. They watched him cry out as he fell down the side of the mountain, blind, and hitting all of the boulders on his way down. Right before landing on his back and making a 'splat' sound.

Both of them laughed. "Guess he didn't learn last time," the rat said. "He should know better than to mess with us." They're little party was short lived as they heard a familiar sound overhead and saw Terrorsaur fly over.

"Oh man, looks like Optimus lost this round. Which means were goners." Eri really didn't know how to reply to that.

"Optimus will show up! I know it."

* * *

Not too far away.

Terrorsaur flew over the crystals. "Must recharge… Must." He stopped when he saw the bombs sticking to the sides of two of the larger ones. "Demolition charges. They'll tear this mountain to pieces!" But before he flew off he noticed something. Eri wasn't there. "Where is she?! I left her right here." He flew up a little to get a better look and saw her not too far away. Standing with the Maximal rat.

Without thinking he flew over and made a panicked squawk as he picked her up. "What the?!" she said in surprise.

"Starigirl!" the rat called unable to grab her as she was being lifted away.

"Rattrap! What are you doing? Let me go!"

"Shut up! This whole mountain's gonna blow!" Not two seconds later it did.

The shock was enough to get the spider up and moving again as he used one of his webs to propel to safety.

Rattrap could only stand there helplessly as Eri was flown away and he had no way out. "Well, at least I'm goin' out with a bang."

"The only place we're going is home," Optimus appeared. "Where's Eri?"

"The flyer snagged her, fearless-leader! I thought you were scrapped!"

"Well we'll both be if you don't hurry. On my back, quick." The rat did so eagerly.

"Ok, make like a bird. We can still get the little lady back!"

"I can't," the ape answered. "The energon blast would fry my circuits permanently. Just hold on tight." He started running for the edge.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man," the rat couldn't believe it. "Don't tell me you're gonna **jump**!" He screamed the last bit as they leapt off the edge as the mountain blew apart. "AWWWWWWWWWW!" he yelled as they fell past the last floating rocks. The mountain itself practically disappeared as they fell toward the tree line. At the last second the Prime managed to grab onto one of the tree branches so they didn't impact the ground.

"We're dead, right?" the rat asked opening his eyes.

"Not this time," his leader managed to get out. "But my arms feel like refried rubber bands. Would you mind taking a little weight off my back?"

Rattrap climbed up to the tree branch and hoisted himself on it. With some effort the Maximal leader did the same. "You do know that was crazy?" the rat asked.

"Eh, sometimes crazy works," the ape countered. "By the way, you did good out there."

"Eh, you weren't so bad yourself. But don't tell anybody I said so."

"Now let's go find Eri," the Prime got back to business.

"I sure hope she's around here," the rat said.

* * *

Nearby.

"Put me down!" she trashed in the flyer's grasp. She'd seen Optimus and Rattrap go falling into the nearby tree line and couldn't wait to go check on them. He flew low enough to the ground and let go of her.

"Blast those Maximals," he sneered. "They destroyed my power."

"I'm glad!" she said.

"What?!"

"You heard me," she tried and failed to get the stupid collar off her neck again. "While we were in those caves you proved you weren't just another afthole, Terrorsaur. But once we got to that mountain you changed. The decent mech I knew went flying out the window and left in his place was a power hungry piece of scrap."

"Oh, yeah? So, I guess you played me just to save your little friends."

"I won't lie I did to an extent. But before we found that stupid energon…" Her voice trailed off and see didn't look at him.

"Well?" he prompted landing in front of her.

"I thought, no I guess I was just stupid."

"Spit it out!" he got feed up.

"I thought we could be friends!" she yelled back at him. "Or if not, then we could at least be less homicidal toward each other. It was nice when you treated me with some decency and not like a _pet_," she turned away from him.

He simply stood there for a moment digesting what she said. "I don't know what you thought," he stated at last. "I'm a Predacon, this kind of stuff is what we do." She still didn't look at him and she had a sad look on her face. "By the inferno," he whispered. "Come here," he told her.

"Why?"

"Just get over here." She reluctantly did so. He quickly transformed and before she could blink snapped the collar off of her neck. The next second he transformed back into beast mode.

"Huh?"

"Not a word of this to anyone," he grumbled. "I can't promise anything but I'll…_ Try_ not to aim at you the next time we meet. And when I take over the Predacons and obliterate the Maximals once and for all I'll take you into some consideration."

"What do you mean?"

"Instead of my pet, you can be my second-in-command. And if it's really want you want," he paused for a moment and Eri thought he wasn't going to continue. "I may spare the Maximals if they swear allegiance to me."

If it had been anyone else she would have still felt insulted. But this was Terrorsaur and she read in between the lines. It was probably the closest thing to an apology and promise not to hurt her she was going to get from him. He didn't look at her and she could've sworn he seemed embarrassed. He wasn't swearing much, in fact he might have been lying. But it was a start.

Slowly, a smile came to her face. He had saved her from the energon blasts. And kept her safe from the other Predacons. It didn't make up for him nearly offlining her friends or making her a pet but… At least he was trying. "Thank you Terrorsaur," she smiled at him. "For everything."

He appeared off guard she had actually thanked him but immediately tried to act composed. "Eh, don't mention it. To anyone. Ever."

"Of course," she reassured him. "What will you do now?"

"Go back to my base. At least I took care of Megatron. You can run off and join your precious Maximals for now. They're probably nearby."

"Yeah," as if to emphasize the point they heard both the rat and Optimus call out her name.

"I'd better leave," he was ready to take off.

"Wait!"

"What?" but he didn't get to finish as she ran over and hugged him.

"Whatever happens Terrorsaur, thank you for everything you've done for me. And I hope whatever path you choose makes you happy." The Predacon just stood there as stiff as a board as she gently hugged him. He wouldn't openly admit he liked it. He used one of his wings to quickly pat her back not knowing what else to do.

"Alright, alright," he told her. "Get off." She let go and he started flying off.

"Bye Terrorsaur," she told him as he left. Although he was too far away from her to hear it he said, "See ya around, Eri."

With that she ran off in the direction of the voices and met up with her friends. "Guys!"

"Stargirl!"

"Eri!"

* * *

Meanwhile.

Terrorsaur flew back to the base slowly. He landed and was greeted with the sight of Megatron walking out of the ship. "Well, well," the Predacon leader smirked. "Look who's back."

The flyer paled and let out a strangled, "Help."

* * *

_So, holy shit I did not realize how long this chapter was until I read it. Hope you guys appreciate it. By the way I forgot to put in the last chapter that I don't speak Japanese so if I spelt anything wrong please don't kill me. _

_Man I can't believe this little arc is over. I'd like to think you guys liked it as much as me. And please let me know if anyone was OOC. Until next time!_


	10. Author's Note

**Hello everyone this is just a little note to let you know I am starting another story that involves Eri. This is called Beast Wars: Rejoice. It focuses on Eri enjoying the holidays with all our beloved characters. If you're not interested you don't have to read it but I'd just thought I'd let you all know. **

**Seeing as Halloween is upon us I'm going to be working on that story for a while and probably won't update this for a bit. **

**P.S. I'll remove this note when I do update this story so you guys don't have to keep staring at it. For now keep on keepin' on!**


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